Thunderstorm wrecks havoc in Hyderabad, three killed

Three people were killed and scores of others injured as a powerful thunderstorm wrecked havoc in Hyderabad on Friday, uprooting hundreds of trees and disrupting electricity supply.

A man was killed when a water tanker fell on him in Bhavani Nagar in the old city. Ahmed Bin Ibrahim (32) was making arrangements for the 40th day ceremony after the death of his mother when a rooftop tanker from an adjacent house fell on him, crushing him to death. His brother was injured.

In the second incident a labourer was killed and another injured when they fell from third floor of a building while whitewashing it. The incident occurred in Janaki Nagar of Toli Chowki area.

Another labourer was killed in a wall collapse in Attapur. He was returning home when strong winds and rains forced him to take shelter under a house but he was killed when one of the walls collapsed and debris fell on him.

More than a dozen others were injured in different incidents in the city.

Strong winds accompanied by heavy rains for half-an-hour in the evening caused havoc. Many huge trees were uprooted and fell on the roads in commercial and residential areas.

The gales fell electricity poles, communication towers, hoardings, and billboards, and snapped high tension wires.

Many areas remained under darkness till late in the night.

The heavy rains inundated roads across the city. Motorists returning from offices were stuck in traffic jams for hours.

Eight cars were crushed under the massive pillar of a hoarding which fell at KBR Park in posh Jubilee Hills. No one was injured in the incident.

Trees also fell on the roads in other parts of Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Indira Park, state secretariat and other areas in Hyderabad, twin city of Secunderabad and the Information Technology district Cyberabad.

The strong winds also caused havoc in areas on the outskirts of the city including Quthbullapur, Malkajgiri, Jeedimetla, L.B. Nagar and Vanasthalipuram.

Emergency teams of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Water Board were busy removing fallen trees and poles. Officials said the work in most of the areas can be taken up only in the morning.

GHMC commissioner Janardhan Reddy said 105 emergency teams of the corporation and 29 of Water Board were engaged in clearing roads. Nearly 40 cranes were deployed.

The met office said the thunderstorm had nothing to do with the cyclonic storm Roanu in the Bay of Bengal.

Hyderabad Meteorological Centre said the heavy rains were results of cumulonimbus clouds over the region.

--IANS

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