Five people died and more than 550 K-Electric (KE) feeders tripped on Sunday as a third spell of rain lashed the city.
According to police, the deaths occurred due to electrocution in separate incidents across the city. Among the victims was a child, a resident of Gulshan-e-Hadeed Phase 2, a 22-year-old living in Landhi’s Qazzafi Town, and another person from Garden area’s Fawwara Chowk neighbourhood.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department last week had forecast a third spell of monsoon in Karachi with heavy rain and thunderstorm in the port city between July 26 and July 27.
Separately, a rain emergency has been declared at the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KW&SB) on the orders of Provincial Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, a KWSB spokesperson said. The spokesperson said de-watering pumps have been deployed in low-lying areas and roads with the Board’s complain centre to register complaints all night.
Meanwhile, K-Electric (KE) stated that the power supply of low-lying areas had been shut down due to water-logging which created ‘a safety hazard’. “Our teams are working continuously so please be assured we aim to restore power as soon as it is safe to do so,” the power utility said in a tweet. It also urged citizens to refrain from making false calls on their 118 helpline. “Please only call 118 in the event of life-threatening emergency such as sparks, fire, live wires or downed PMT/poles. False emergency calls create more wait times for everyone as we have to switch off the entire area.”
