HYDERABAD: Nine people died as heavy rains lashed Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas divisions in the past 48 hours, with gusts of winds, hailstorm and lightning piling misery on people.
The inclement weather paralyzed life and disrupted the electricity system of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) in lower parts of Sindh, leaving millions of people without electricity for hours.
Early on Tuesday morning, various areas in the Hyderabad division received heavy rains and were also battered by gusty winds. As a result, the power supply was suspended from 53 feeders of Hesco, and a tower of the 66Kv Mithi-to-Tando Jan Mohammad transmission line was also damaged in New Kot and area. The tower fell near a petrol pump, cutting off the electricity supply to five grid stations.
On Tuesday afternoon, the twin cities of Hyderabad and Kotri again received heavy showers and hailstorm for two hours continuously. Hailstones the size of golf balls damaged several vehicles and windows in Hyderabad’s SITE area. Gusts uprooted trees and damaged vehicles.
In the Kotri city, a wall of a barber shop fell due to continuous downpour, leaving three children dead and seven other people injured. Police said the children, identified as 10-year-old Farhana, 11-year-old Asma and 12-year-old Muhammad Yusuf -- were playing when the wall came crashing down, leaving them dead on the spot.
The bodies of the children and the injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Bilawal Medical Hospital, from where families took away the deceased and the injured. Among those injured due to hailstorm in Kotri were Gul Muhammad, Kashan, Ali Raza, Muhammad Hashim, Gul Muhammad and Ibrahim Hameed Chhotu.
On Monday, after rains in the Tharparkar desert, the heatwave eased. Rain with hailstorm lashed the Virawah area of the Nangarparkar tehsil. In the Dadu city, Johi, Wahi Pandhi and Gorakh areas received rains and hailstorm, which caused fresh streams to emerge from mountains.
A tragic incident took place in the Tharparkar district, where six people died due to lightning. The district administration confirmed that on the road from the Mithi City to Diplo Shahar, Hindu pilgrims were walking to the temple of Faqir Parbaram when lightning struck and three people died on the spot. Twelve burn victims were shifted to the Civil Hospital Mithi, and three of them later passed away.
Among residents of the Sethar village who were killed by lightning were 16-year-old Vivek, 15-year-old Govind, 35-year-old Santosh, 30-year-old Lalu, 30-year-old Velu Kolhi and 20-year-old Pulji Kolhi, while the injured include Jhaman, Vilji, Nihal, Somaar, Basant, Tago, Tejo and Villow.
On Tuesday, many parts of lower Sindh, including Mirpurkhas, Umarkot, Tandojan Muhammad, Jamshoro and Hyderabad, received rain and hailstorm. The Meteorological Department has predicted rain and thunderstorm in different areas in the next 24 hours.