SHEIKHUPURA, Feb 18: Two people were killed and more than 100 sustained injuries when heavy rain followed by a gale hit several villages in the Farooqabad area, 15km from here, on Tuesday afternoon.
Over 300 houses and cattle-pens, most of them made of mud, collapsed, dozens of cattle were killed and scores of trees were uprooted during the storm.
The worst-affected villages are Makki 460, Dera Allah Ditta, Dera Malikan, Dera Gujjaran and Sacha Souda.
In village Makki 460, nearly 50 houses collapsed and about 100 villagers were rendered homeless.
In Dera Malikan there were about 200 houses and almost all of them were destroyed.
A stationary oil tanker overturned at a filling station on the Sargodha Road near Farooqabad. In Farooqabad town itself, strong winds blew away roofs of 45 houses.
In Dera Allah Ditta, two people were buried under the debris of a house and two children sustained critical injuries. The identity of the deceased and the injured could not be ascertained till the filing of this report.
Standing crops of sugarcane, wheat, vegetables, and fodder were also hit by the storm.
Witnesses told newsmen that at 4.30pm after the torrential rains a gale appeared from the south and hit the village and within a moment the roofs and walls of their houses started caving in.
“It was a horrible scene. Many people, mostly elders and children were buried under the debris,” said a villager.
The boundary wall of Javed Fahid Textile Mill also collapsed.
On Sargodha Road near Farooqabad, more than 10 houses collapsed. The inmates of the localities were present on the road. Rescue teams of district administration were busy in providing relief to the victims.
In Dari Asadulla Wattoo near Ferozewatwan, several houses were damaged.
RELIEF MEASURES: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Tuesday sanctioned one million rupees for the rehabilitation of those affected by storm in Farooqabad.
He directed the provincial relief minister and commissioner to visit the town to supervise relief measures.
The district administration was also directed to provide free medicines and ration to the affected people.
The Sheikhupura administration and local NGOs have also sent relief goods for those rendered homeless.