Ten people were killed and many injured in rain-related incidents across the Punjab on Tuesday. The Met Office said the rain spell that had started on Sunday would continue on Wednesday (today).
While the rain turned the weather pleasant and substantially decreased the temperature, it did not bring much happy news for the farmers. In several areas the wheat crop suffered substantial damage in the heavy downpour and fierce winds that lashed several parts of the province. Damage to harvested wheat and delay in harvesting on account of rain was also reported.
Two women were killed and another injured when the wall of a graveyard collapsed in Kamalabad area of Faisalabad.
Asmat Bano, 50, her daughter Shazia, 32, and daughter-in-law Aasia, 30, were on the way home after shopping when the wall gave in.
Neighbours pulled the women, residents of Rehmanpura, from the debris and took them to a hospital. Shazia and Aasia died and Bano was in critical condition.
Locals later staged a protest demonstration against the city government and claimed the wall had collapsed because of poor quality of the construction material. They demanded action against the contractor as well as compensation for the bereaved families.
District Coordination Officer (DCO) Noorul Amin Mengal said that he had ordered an inquiry.
“A committee comprising the assistant commissioner (city) and executive district officer (works) will probe the matter,” the DCO told The Express Tribune.
The city’s Met Office recorded 34mm of rain along with a storm with 96-kilometres per hour winds.
An eight-year-old girl was killed and three women injured when the roof of their house caved in amid rain in Allah Ditta, Faizabad. The girl was identified as Muskan and the injured included Naseem Bibi and Nasrin Akhtar.
A 34-year-old man, identified as Muhammad Aslam, was killed when the wall of his house collapsed on him in village 215-RB Muhammad Wala.
The fierce windstorm also uprooted trees and electricity pylons, disrupting power supply to parts of the city.
“The storm has affected supply through more than 100 feeders of 19 grid stations in Faisalabad, Sargodha and Jhang districts,” said Tahir Sheikh, a spokesman for the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco).
In Lahore, a three-year-old girl, Fatiha, going with her uncle on a motorcycle was killed when the bike slipped near Khokhar Road. Four people were injured after the roof of a marble factory collapsed in Jamal Town, Lahore, Rescue-1122 said. A man, identified as Mukhtar, was injured when the roof of his house collapsed on him on Bund Road.
In Bhakkar, a 45-year-old man, identified as Taj, died and three others were injured after being struck by lightening. The injured were taken to the district headquarters hospital.
A 47-year-old woman in Haveli Lakha was also killed by a lightening strike.
A two-year-old girl, Emaan, died when the roof of her house fell on her in Wahuwa, Taunsa. Her 64-year-old grandmother was injured.
Muhammad Amin, 40, died when the roof of his house caved in in Musay Waal village.
A 28-year-old woman, identified as Sadia, was electrocuted in Pakpattan’s Khanpur Colony. Thirteen people were injured when the roof of a roadside hotel fell on them in Kot Addu.
Five people were also injured in a hailstorm in Tibbi Qaiserani area of Taunsa.
Three hours of downpour damaged wheat crop on hundreds of acres in Mandi Bahauddin.
The Met Office on Tuesday recorded 33mm of rain in Gujrat, 31mm in Jhelum and Chakwal, 25mm in Mianwali, 19mm in Mandi Bahauddin, 16mm in Gujranwala, 15mm in Lahore, 11mm in Okara, 10mm in Jhang, 10mm in Sialkot Cantt, 9mm in Toba Tek Singh and 6mm in Sahiwal.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2014.