ISLAMABAD: At least eight people were killed in rain-related incidents across Lahore.
Six people died after receiving electric shocks. Another two were killed after a building collapsed. Six deceased persons were shifted to hospitals by Rescue 1122 and two by police.
“Operations are being mounted across Lahore,” a Rescue 1122 spokesperson said.
The Punjab’s premier city has received 170 millimeters rainfall over the last 24 hours, Radio Pakistan reported. Incessant rain reportedly left The Mall cratered. Construction work on the Orange Line Metro Train project is said to have been affected too.
Inclement weather has been forecast across several areas nationwide. Rain coupled with thunderstorms is expected across Hazara, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad divisions, Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan and
Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Similar forecasts have been made for isolated places across Malakand, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, DI Khan and Sahiwal divisions.
Agencies add: Heavy downpour lashed different parts of Lahore in the wee hours of Tuesday, inundating streets and causing flooding.
According to sources in Rescue 1122, two people were killed as the roof of their warehouse collapsed in Gumti bazaar owing to heavy downpour. Another person died of electrocution in China Scheme area of Gujar Pura.
Rescue sources further said that three others were injured as the roof of their house collapsed in China Scheme.
Three people were reported killed on Monday night due to electrocution during the heavy rainfall. Two were electrocuted to death in Rewaz Garden while a third was electrocuted at Qurtaba Chowk, in the Old City area.
The deceased included Rewaz Garden employees Amanat and Shazaib, while motorcyclist Akber was electrocuted at Qurtaba Chowk after coming in contact with live electrical wires.
A total 252 millimetres of rain has been recorded in the city in the last 24 hours. However, the rain is still continuing to lash Lahore among other cities across Punjab.
The rainfall resulted in 150 electricity feeders tripping in the city, plunging different areas of the city into darkness.
According to Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) officials, work is underway to bring electricity feeders back online.
Moreover, the flow of traffic was severely affected as water accumulated in low-lying areas.
A warning was also given out for Lahore airport due to the weather conditions, stating that routine flight operations may be affected.
Rainwater also accumulated at DHQ hospital in Gujranwala with hospital officials saying work is underway to remove it.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast more rain in the next two days.
On the other hand, the PMD has forecast rain along with thundershower with gusty winds in Hazara, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha and Faisalabad divisions along with Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
Isolated showers can also be expected in Malakand, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, DI Khan and Sahiwal, while hot and dry weather is expected elsewhere in the country.
Residents of Lahore took to social media to slam the lack of preparations and the failed drainage system as roads were flooded following heavy downpour.
Not only the Old City, but the posh areas of the Punjab capital were also inundated.
As downpour inundated large swathes of Punjab’s capital Lahore, the caretaker chief minister Hassan Askari finally took notice of the situation after 16 hours and visited rain-affected areas of the city.
Caretaker CM directed authorities to expedite relief operations and solved out issues of the locals at earliest.
A man wades through a flooded road after heavy rain fall
Askari also constituted investigation committee to probe emergence of sinkhole on Lahore’s Mall road and instructed them to compile the report as soon as possible.
Askari apprised reporters that metropolis had witnessed such heavy downpour again after span of 30 years.
The downpour – among the heaviest rains in recent decades – paralyzed life in the city and also exposed flaws in its sewer system, which flooded some of the streets in residential areas.
Till now, six deaths have been reported due to rain-related incidents.