KARACHI - At least four people including a children and a teenager were killed and two others were injured in rain-related incidents during the day, police and rescuers said.

As per Chhipa information, an eight-year-old boy Akash son of Wazeer was killed while his mother Shabana 38, died as wall of their house fall on them during the rain. The victims were residents of Cattle Colony and were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico legal formalities and treatment respectively.

Separtely, a 13-year-old Shah Zayan drowned in a pond created by accumulated rainwater in Musharraf Colony, according to an Edhi rescue team. The body was later retrieved and taken to a nearby hospital. In yet another incident, a 17-year-old boy died after being electrocuted in Haroonabad area. His body was shifted to the Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi.

Meanwhile, a 22-year-old Shoaib lost his life after receiving electric shocks in Pakistan Chowk locality of the city. Separately, Muneer Ahmed aged 35 was injured after being electrocuted near Arts Council. Edhi teams rescued seven persons who were stucked in rain water near Malir Naddi. Aqib, 23, Junaid, Bilal and Sheri all 30-year-old were amongst those who were rescued by Edhi team.

Meanwhile, 400 feeders of K-Electric have been tripped, causing severe power outages in PIB Colony, Surjani Town, Gulshan Iqbal, Malir, Lasbela and others.

On the other hand, several cars got trapped under the avalanche in Gulistan-e-Johar. No causalities have been reported so far.

The hours-long spell, which began before sunrise and continued till night, broke previous records of rainfall recorded in the city during August. The Met department said that Karachi had received 345mm of rainfall so far in August, breaking the previous record of 298mm reported in August 1984.

The department added that the trend was likely to continue for another two days, warning that another system, that was developing right now over the Bay of Bengal, could enter the province and cause heavy rainfall at the end of August or early September.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Chief Minister, in view of the incessant rainfall, declared a rain emergency in the province, instructing the Chief Secretary to issue the notification in this regard. The leaves of all government employees have been revoked and they have been directed to report to their respective departments immediately.

Speaking to media persons on a visit to Share Faisal on Tuesday evening, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that all low-lying areas in the city have been inundated. “I have declared an emergency in view of the prevailing situation,” said Shah. “We stand with the people in this time of difficulty.”

According to data from the Met department, the highest amount of rainfall, 72 millimetres, was recorded at Gulshan-i-Hadeed while Nazimabad recorded 51.6mm, North Karachi 37mm, Surjani Town 25.6mm, Landhi 11.5mm, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Base Faisal 11mm, Jinnah Terminal 9.6mm while University Road received 8.8mm of rainfall.

Surjani Town and Orangi Town which had received heavy rainfall during the last spell were flooded once again as people started to evacuate from their homes while the Korangi causeway was also shut down due to flooding. Footage showed roads in Landhi and Federal B Area as well as other areas heavily inundated with water.

L andslide damages cars in Gulistan-i-Jauhar

At least 20 cars were crushed due to land sliding in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar area as rains wreaked havoc all across Sindh.

According to SSP East Sajid Mir, the land sliding occurred near Gulistan-e-Jauhar’s Munawar roundabout. He added that no loss of life was reported in the incident. SSP Mir said that multiple bikes and cars parked there were damaged as a result of the landslide. He added that the houses nearby had been vacated as a precautionary measure.

KE suspends power to over 400 feeders

Meanwhile, 400 feeders of K-Electric have been tripped, causing severe power outages in PIB Colony, Surjani Town, Gulshan Iqbal, Malir, Lasbela and others.

A spokesperson for the K-Electric (KE) said electricity supply to certain areas of the city had been temporarily suspended for safety reasons. “Power supply in some areas was immediately suspended after light rain last night and it has also been suspended in some areas where the water level is high for safety reasons,” the spokesperson said.

“Water has entered the electricity installations in Gulshan, Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Bin Qasim whereas water has also entered homes in low-lying areas of the city and restoring the supply of electricity in flooded areas can be dangerous.

“K-Electric teams are in contact with the relevant organisations and teams are working [to restore power],” he added.

A day earlier, two people had died while four others were injured in the Sukhan area of the city after the awning of a gaming zone collapsed due to heavy rainfall at KMC flats near Bhains Colony, according to officials.

The Met office has predicted that the current spell of rain will continue until Wednesday (tomorrow), warning that there was a danger of urban flooding yet again. “Rain/wind thundershowers, with isolated heavy to very heavy falls, are expected in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Shaheed Benazirabad, Dadu, Tharparker, Nagarparker, Mirpurkhas, Islam Kot, Umar Kot, Sanghar, Sukkur and Larkana from Monday to Wednesday,” a weather advisory by the department had said.

“Heavy rainfall may generate urban flooding/water logging in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta and Badin from Monday to Tuesday. Heavy downpour may generate flash flooding in hill torrents of Kalat, Khuzdar and Lasbela during the period,” it added.

Governor calls for joint efforts to deal with record rainfall

Meanwhile, Governor Sindh while admitting record rainfall in the city said that it was time to jointly act and support the rain-hit masses in the city.

“This is not the time to create divisions as we already have several divisions,” he said and added that they wanted to work for the city irrespective of the political differences.

He suggested to form a single authority responsible for dealing Karachi issues and termed KWSB and Solid Waste Management Board as obsolete institutions currently dealing with the water and sewage issues of the city. 

He said that they did not want to deprive the Chief Minister of his rights guaranteed under constitution instead they wanted to jointly work with him to solve the issues of the city.

While mobilizing the MQM-P welfare wing to carry out relief activities, he also asked the business community to extend a helping hand towards them in providing relief to people in rain-hit areas of the province.

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Karachi chapter and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) also mobilized their political activists for relief activities in the city and urged the government to play their due role in testing time for the citizens of the business hub.

Former Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan leader Farooq Sattar demanded of the Sindh government to declare Karachi as calamity-hit after rain wreaked havoc in the city and destroyed businesses.

“People of the city are calling out the governments to help them,” he said and added that it was time for them to jointly support the masses irrespective of any political differences.