floods
As many as 10 people, including a child, have died in the last two days of rainfall in the city

At least five more people were killed due to electrocution and structural collapse as the ongoing monsoon spell turned many roads in Karachi into rivers of filthy rainwater and left many houses and shops flooded on Monday. The Sindh government, though, insisted that the situation "could have been worse."

Two labourers were electrocuted to death at a marble factory in Mowach Goth. According to Mochko SHO Waseem, four workers were trying to drain rainwater from the factory with a suction pump when they were electrocuted. Two of them, identified as Muhammad Moosa, 45, and Waheed, 30, died on the spot.

Separately, a man received an electric shock and died while turning on a water pumping machine in Orangi Town. According to Pakistan Bazaar SHO Iqbal Tunio, the deceased, identified as Muhammad Rafiq, 45, was handed over to the family after the completion of medico-legal formalities.



Eighteen years old Waleed, who went to Sohrab Goth cattle market with his elder brother and friends died on the spot due to broken electricity wire.

Moreover, a young man, 20-year-old Majid, died after a wall collapsed on him near Gujjar nullah. With the collapse, rainwater also rushed into the house, flooding it.

As many as 10 people, including a child, have died in the last two days of rainfall in the city.

A tale of two cities

While half the city saw heavy downpours and thunderstorms on the day, the weather remained hot and sunny in the rest of the metropolis.

In some parts of Karachi, the rain began in the afternoon and continued in intervals over the next few hours. A total of 120 millimetres of rain was recorded in the city
, with Nazimabad seeing the highest at 34mm.

The deluge resulted in urban flooding in several parts of the provincial capital, with rainwater mixed with filth and garbage from overflowing drains even entering houses and shops in some areas, destroying the goods inside.

Videos on social media also showed cars floating away on inundated roads, while people waded through waist-high - or in some instances, chest-high - water. Several roads were resultantly closed for traffic.

Dow University of Health Sciences also saw its out-patient departments (OPDs) inundated with water, as water poured out of the switchboards as well. Meanwhile, the OPD, administrative block and grounds of another hospital at KDA Chowrangi were submerged too.

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Lights out

Much of West and Central districts also saw their power supply disrupted immediately after the downpour began. Orangi Town, Malir, Lyari, Korangi, Keamari, Liaquatabad, Saeedabad and Baldia Town were among the worst hit, being left without electricity until late into the night.

While citizens blamed the outages on tripped feeders, broken cables and other technical faults, the K-Electric (KE) administration claimed the power supply was suspended as a precautionary measure, to avoid any untoward incidents.