Eight killed due to squall in North-West

Chandigarh, May 9 (UNI) Eight people were killed and 10 others injured as a squall, accompanied by rain and lightning, hit the north-west region last night, bringing a sharp decline in the mercury.

Six people were killed in Punjab and two in Himachal Pradesh. The squall, with wind speed exceeding 102 km per hour in Chandigarh, damaged houses, uprooted trees, disrupted power and water supplies, blew off hoardings, signboards and roofs of thatched houses, snapped telecommunication wires, triggered fire incidents and perished animals in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

A couple was killed in a house collapse at Sindwa Jamita village in Gurdaspur district of Punjab. The deceased were identified as Charan Singh and his wife Joginder Kaur.

In a similar incident in the district, a labourer, identiifed as Gauri Shankar, was killed at Phara village. In another incident in the district, one Jagjit Singh who was driving a tractor, came under it when he lost its control during the storm near Deepawal village.

Another person, identified as Kamar Masih, riding a bi-cycle, was killed when a tree fell on him at Allowal village in the district.

One person, identified as Kewal Singh (55) died due to sudden shock on seeing the fire that engulfed the entire Randhirpurthe village in Kapurthala district. The duststorm, accompanied by lightning, played havoc in more than two dozen villages in Kapurthala district.

A 30-year old woman, identified as Kirana, and her daughter Seema were buried alive when a factory wall collapsed on their temporary hut in the industrial area of Baddi in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh due to the duststorm. The deceased were residents of Chattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, a report from Shimla said.

Three other people, were injured due to the collapse of the wall.

The duststorm, accompanied by lightning, played havoc in more than two dozen villages in Kapurthala district.

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