Three killed, over 15 people injured as dust storm hits city

At least three people, including a woman, have been killed and over 15 others injured after incidents related to dusty strong winds hit the city on Wednesday. A woman died in Saadi Town area of the city after wall of his house collapsed due to strong winds while a person died when roof of his house collapsed in Surjani Town area of the city. In another incident, rooftop of a house collapsed in Gulshan-e-Maymar area leading to the death of a person. It is pertinent to mention here that various parts of Karachi on Wednesday were hit by strong winds coupled with dust storm, slight rain and lightning, plunging the city into darkness. According to Chief Meteorologist Sardar Sarfaraz, various parts of the city witnessed dust storm caused due to strong western winds. “This weather system of strong winds coupled with dust storm will last in the city for two hours till 10:00 pm,” he said. The sandstorms have a speed between 54 and 74 kilometres per hour, said the met department. The winds plunged the city into darkness, which K-Electric termed as a precautionary measure, as various incidents of electric poles falling to the ground were also reported from the city. The areas that witnessed power outages included Malir Halt, Tariq Bin Ziyad Society, Model Colony, parts of Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Defence, Mehmodabad, Qayyumabad and other areas. K-Electric spokesman confirmed that electric supply in parts of the city remained suspended amid incidents of electric poles and wires coming to the ground. Electric supply in parts of the city remained suspended keeping in view the preventives measures, the spokesperson said. Separately, in Ganjal Goth area of the city, eight people including children were wounded after rooftop of a house collapsed. The injured were shifted to a hospital. Moreover, the strong winds and dust storm have brought down the visibility level in Karachi from six kilometres to 500 meters. The airport authorities have made emergency arrangements keeping in view the unexpected weather situation. The authorities have also started to shift small planes to a safer location at the airport while possibilities were also mulled over to divert a private airlines’ flight scheduled to land at the airport at 11:00 pm.