KARACHI - Strong wind and rain killed 10 people, damaged property and flooded homes in southern Pakistan in the last 24 hours, but the disaster Cyclone Phet threatened to bring was averted, officials said Monday.
"The death toll has gone up to 10. Seven died in Karachi and three were killed in Hyderabad," Sindh province's health minister, Saghir Ahmed, told AFP.
Those killed in Karachi were all electrocuted. They included a 12-year-old boy who was playing outside his home in a stagnant pool when a snapped live wire fell into the water next to him, the minister said.
Property was damaged in the towns of Thatta and Badin, and a small building collapsed in Karachi, he said.
Children could be seen retrieving furniture and pouring out rainwater from shanty homes in Karachi.
Chief meteorologist Mohammad Riaz said Cyclone Phet turned into a low depression after making landfall in Thatta and Badin, and moved towards Rajasthan in India.
Pakistan's military said it air-lifted relief goods to southwestern coastal towns, including blankets, pillows and tents.
Pakistan had battened down the hatches and prepared for an emergency after Cyclone Phet killed 16 people in Oman.
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from vulnerable coastal villages in Sindh, but thousands more refused to abandon their homes.
Hospitals in the Karachi area were also put on alert and medicines and tinned food stockpiled after meteorologists warned the cyclone might uproot power and communication lines along the coast.