Karachi paralysed as Pakistan deluge kills 24

KARACHI, Aug 1 (Reuters) Heavy monsoon rains killed at least 24 people, including 14 children, and injured more than 50 in southern Pakistan, officials and rescue workers said today.

People have drowned, electrocuted by falling cables and crushed to death by house collapses over the past 48 hours, officials in the southern Sindh province told Reuters.

Many parts of Karachi, Pakistan's commercial and financial hub, were without electricity for up to 40 hours as old, rusty power supply lines broke and generators tripped.

''This has multiplied our problems, as we are unable to clear water off the roads,'' said Syed Mustafa Kamal, Karachi's Nazim, or mayor.

Karachi, a city of 15 million people, was paralysed due to the combination of flooded streets and power outages which shut down factories and businesses.

A spokesman for the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation said that repair work may take another 24 hours.

Falling electricity cables killed two people in their cars, Kamal said, and five people, including four children drowned after being swept away by flood waters on the city's outskirts.

In other parts of Sindh, at least 17 people were killed, including 10 in Sanghar city, 250 km north of Karachi. Most deaths occurred due to house collapses.

In rural Sindh, high winds ripped roofs off huts built of straw, mud and wooden planks, injuring more than 50 villagers, though casualties could be much higher as many injuries go unreported, rescue workers said.

REUTERS MQA PM1347