14 killed in lightning as heavy downpour hits Balochistan

LIGHTNING strike amid heavy downpours in parts of Balochistan and Punjab killed at least 14 people in the two provinces on Saturday. 

A Geo News report, quoting officials said four of the 14 were killed in Surab, Dera Bugti, and Pishin districts of Balochistan after westerly waves entered the province, while two youths, Farid Ahmed and Jabir Ahmed, were sitting in a garden of Tanak area in Surab district, when a lighting kill them on the spot. 

Two children were also killed in Basti Kalwar of Rahim Yar Khan among others. 

Almost the entire Balochistan and significant areas of Punjab have been impacted by the rain, thunderstorms, and dusty winds. 

Quetta also witnessed heavy and frequent rains, which helped ease the heatwave situation there, making the temperature drop a notch.

The report also said that a multitude of feeders experienced an electrical collapse, leaving much of Quetta without electricity since last afternoon. 

The upper regions of Pakistan, including Bolan, Pashin, Kalat, and Mastung, were left frigid after a hailstorm. 

A Balochistani administration spokesperson said all commissioners and deputy commissioners have been directed due to the unexpected rainfall and weather in the province.

Chief Minister Sardar Sarfaraz Bugti directed measures to remove encroachments from all natural drainage routes and notified the district disaster management authorities.

While the two provinces were reeling from heavy rainfall and lightning strikes, both Punjab and Balochistan were also dealing with terror attacks. At least 11 people were shot dead by militants in the attacks, of which nine were from the Punjab province.

At least nine passengers were killed in the Noshki area of the province when gunmen forced them off a bus they were travelling in and kidnapped them after verifying their Punjabi ethnicity, news agency PTI reported quoting officials.

“About 10-12 gunmen blockaded the Quetta-Taftan Highway, N-40, in the vicinity of Sultan Charhai near Noshki and abducted nine passengers from a bus," according to a senior civilian official of the area, Habibullah Musakhel.

The official said that the gunmen first checked the identity cards of passengers and then kidnapped “only those hailing from Punjab province". They later killed them and dumped their bodies under a nearby bridge.