Islamabad: Residents of the federal capital and Rawalpindi endured a powerful storm late Wednesday night, with some reports of as many as seven dead and dozens more injured.
Seven died and dozens were injured as the heavy rains also affected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, including in Peshawar, Charsadda, Mardan and Khyber Agency. Nowshera only reported injuries, while Kalam and Mansehra reported damages, but no casualties. According to Pesco, efforts are underway to restore electricity from 21 tripped feeders.
Reports poured in on social media that strong winds of over a hundred kilometres per hour uprooted trees and knocked over billboards, damaging property and blocking roads as the storm raged for hours. Power supply remained disrupted for the duration of the storm in many parts of the twin cities.
Photos circulating on Twitter showed trees fallen on cars, with one user posting a video of fearful shoppers reacting to the storm inside the capital’s popular shopping mall Centaurus.
The severe weather also put flight operations at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport on hold, particularly departures. Normal operations resumed Thursday morning.
