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Torrential rains and gale-force winds have led to the deaths of more than 200 people in the coastal city of Karachi in southern Pakistan. Some 43 people were killed by the storms on Saturday afternoon, while the other bodies were recovered on Sunday. Dozens more were injured as heavy winds uprooted trees and brought down power lines, electrocuting people. Karachi residents were already suffering from power cuts which have led to riots in the city. The minister of health for Sindh province, where Karachi is located, had earlier reported that 228 people had been killed in the storms, but the province's governor later reduced the total to 213. Source : BBC News
Karachi has received 17.7mm (0.7in) of rain since Saturday and more rain is predicted late on Sunday. Most parts of the city have been without electricity for almost a day. In India, heavy rain and floods have killed at least 45 people in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Hospital 'emergency' Karachi residents said that within minutes of the storm breaking, the city's main road, Shahra-e-Faisal, was blocked by fallen debris, leading to accidents and traffic jams. Many of the fatalities were caused by the initial high winds. The rain followed and lashed the city for the next half hour. It flooded much of the city and many shanty town homes were washed away, the BBC's Shoaib Hasan says. People were also killed by fallen trees and sign boards blown down by the winds. Other deaths were caused by roofs or walls collapsing from the rain. Finish reading the article at BBC News |
