Heavy rains kill 228, injure 200 in Pakistan

Karachi, June 25: At least 228 people were killed and more than200 injured as heavy rains and thunderstorms wreaked havoc on this Portcity of Pakistan.

Initial toll figure of 43, in the rains that began on Saturday,spiralled after 185 bodies, including those of eight children and 15women were brought to the Edhi Foundation morgue in the city yesterday.

A senior Foundation official said all the bodies have been identified and claimed.

Majority of the deaths were caused by electrocution, fallingtrees, house collapses and road accidents, media reports quoted SindhHealth Minister Sardar Ahmed as saying.

An emergency had been declared at all the government hospitals and the leaves of doctors and paramedical staff cancelled.

The Gadap town was the worst hit with 800 incidents of housecollapses accounting for at least 22 deaths, according to Town NazimGhulam Murtaza Baloch.

Relief camps have been set up in Mullah Essa Goth, Dost MuhammadGoth and Ghulam Hussain Solangi Goth, to provide food, medicine andshelter to people whose homes were destroyed or damaged, Baloch said.

Angry residents staged protests as the electricity supply remaineddisrupted even as municipal workers were engaged in clearing debrisfrom the roads.

A spokesman of the Karachi Electric Supply Company said, ''We aredoing our best to restore the power supply, but ... the situation isvery bad.'' Meanwhile, six people were wounded in rain-relatedincidents in Mirpurkhas. Heavy dust storms followed by light showerswere reported in Sukkur, Shikarpur, Ghotki, Larkana, Jacobabad, Rohri,Pano Akil and other areas of interior Sindh last evening, razing manytrees and sign boards and causing long power outages.

UNI