By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: At least eight people were killed and 13 others injured on Sunday in a series of rain-related incidents across Karachi, Punjab, and Gilgit-Baltistan, as relentless monsoon rains pounded parts of the country, triggering flash floods, collapsing structures, and deadly electrocutions, authorities said.
The mounting toll prompted urgent warnings of urban flooding in several cities.
The deaths mark a grim escalation in a two-day stretch that has claimed at least 32 lives across four provinces, according to rescue officials. Monsoon rains, an annual deluge that sweeps the region from June to September, have unleashed chaos, toppling homes, submerging roads, and exposing frayed infrastructure.
In Lahore, the Punjab capital, Rescue 1122 crews scrambled to respond to a barrage of emergencies Sunday. “Rescue 1122 received 10 emergency calls about collapsing walls in different parts of the city,” the agency said in a statement. “One woman was killed and 10 others were seriously injured. They were moved to various hospitals and received medical aid in Rescue Emergency ambulances.”
The statement noted scattered reports of trees crashing across the city, though no additional casualties were tied to those incidents. “Rescue 1122 staff are present at the highways and are removing fallen trees from the roads,” it added.
But the rain’s fury claimed more victims in a separate tragedy. Rescue 1122 reported that a billboard, loosened by fierce winds and downpours, toppled onto a motorcyclist and his family. The 50-year-old rider was killed instantly, while his 35-year-old wife and child suffered injuries. They were rushed to Jinnah Hospital for treatment.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz ordered the Water and Sewage Authority (Wasa) to stay on high alert as rain and gusts battered Lahore neighborhoods like Lakshmi Chowk, Shahdara, and Gulshan Ravi. She directed officials to keep highways and underpasses clear, with pumps primed and generators on standby to combat power outages.
In Karachi, Pakistan’s sprawling port city, two men fell victim to electrocution amid the storms. Abdullah Anwar, 41, the younger brother of former lawmaker and PPP Karachi leader Javed Nagori, was killed in Lyari’s Khadda Market. City Senior Superintendent of Police Arif Aziz said Anwar was at a meeting spot near Sumair Arcade when an electric wire fell. “He attempted to plug something into a rainwater-drenched wall socket when he suffered an electric shock and died,” Aziz said. “The victim was dead with the wire in his hand when the police arrived.”
Anwar’s body was taken to Civil Hospital Karachi, where police surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed confirmed electrocution as the cause of death.
In a separate incident in Karachi’s Clifton area, a man in his early 30s met a similar fate. Boat Basin Police Station House Officer Malik Riaz Niazi said the man was near Parklane Hospital when he touched a rain-soaked electric pole and was fatally shocked. His body was moved to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for legal formalities, but his identity remained unknown Sunday night.
Farther north, in Gilgit-Baltistan, two sisters perished after floodwaters swept them away in the Kargah Nala, rescue official Sherbaz Khan said. The rugged region, nestled among towering peaks, has seen rivers swell dangerously under the monsoon’s weight.
In Punjab’s Sharifpura, a mud house buckled under the rain, its roof caving in and killing two people while injuring another, according to Rescue 1122. The victims were transported to Services Hospital.
The monsoon’s toll reflects a broader crisis. “Over the last two days, at least 32 people have been killed across four provinces,” rescue officials reported, citing flash floods, structural collapses, and electrocutions as the culprits.
Punjab bore the brunt of Sunday’s downpours, with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) logging heavy rainfall across multiple districts. “Lahore Airport recorded 65 mm of rain, while 32mm was recorded in Chakwal and 14mm in Dera Ghazi Khan,” said PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia. Rain also soaked Attock, Narowal, Kasur, and other areas.
“This spell of monsoon rain will likely continue until July 1,” Kathia warned. “Monsoon rains are also expected across most districts of Punjab in the next 24 hours.” He urged residents to hunker down during thunderstorms, drive cautiously, and call the PDMA helpline, 1129, in emergencies.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, the Disaster Management Authority sounded a dire alarm about glacial lake outburst floods and flash floods. “Due to intense heat and the western weather system, the ice in the glaciers of GB is melting rapidly,” the agency said, warning of threats to roads, bridges, farmland, and lives. It advised against travel and cautioned people to steer clear of rivers and streams, where water levels could surge without warning.
Authorities across the affected regions issued a chorus of pleas. In Punjab, Kathia called for vigilance. In Gilgit-Baltistan, officials urged tourists and residents alike to avoid glaciers, riverbanks, and bridges, and to heed rescue agency guidance. “Natural disasters can strike at any time,” the district administration warned, listing a control room number—920724-05811—for emergencies.
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