More than 200 people were killed as torrential rain and thunderstorms lashed the Pakistani port city of Karachi, destroying hundreds of homes and causing widespread power outages on Sunday. Gale-force winds uprooted trees and power pylons and blew down roofs and walls, crushing and electrocuting scores of victims. Provincial health minister Syed Sardar Ahmed said 43 people were killed on Saturday and "the bodies of 185 more victims were identified today (Sunday)," taking the toll to 228.

He said another 200 people were injured, mostly in the suburbs. The Edhi Trust aid network also put the death toll at more than 200 as Karachi was deluged by 17.2 millimetres (0.7 inches) in just one hour on Saturday.

Parts of the southern city saw sporadic rioting after a night-long power cuts caused by damage to the electrical grid.

The worst-hit area was the impoverished Gadap neighbourhood, where roofs of shanty houses collapsed on entire families, officials said.

"We have recorded more than 500 houses destroyed or partially damaged due to thunderstorm," the town's deputy mayor Abdus Sattar Brohi, told AFP.

He said the nearby Gujro and Songal areas were also badly affected.

Bodies wrapped in white sheets and plastic bags were seen lying at the mortuary of the Edhi Trust, which runs welfare homes and ambulances.

"We have received these bodies from Karachi and adjoining towns," Edhi Trust official Mohammad Saleem told AFP.

In one incident, at least six heroin addicts sleeping in a drain were killed by a falling billboard.

A local administration official was also killed by a collapsing hoarding, while witnesses said half-a-dozen parked cars were crushed by a falling wall.

Hundreds of affected families were evacuated to makeshift relief centres in schools and other government buildings, while media criticised the authorities for allowing oversized billboards with weak foundations in congested areas.

Health Minister Ahmed said an emergency had been declared at all government hospitals and leave was cancelled for doctors and paramedical staff. Authorities have cancelled school examinations scheduled for Monday.

Officials said the power supply was restored to most parts of the city Sunday. The meteorological office has forecast more rain this week.

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144 dead as India's monsoon sweeps westward

Monsoon rains pummeled western India Sunday after easing in southern states where 144 people have died in three days of heavy downfalls and flash floods.

The southern state of Andhra Pradesh was among the worst hit with 38 dead from rainfall which tapered off Sunday.

Incessant downpours since Thursday night dumped almost 200 millimetres (eight inches) on low-lying areas in three districts of the coastal state, causing rivers and streams to flood.

But with the rain easing slightly officials are hoping more than 100,000 people evacuated from low-lying areas to 95 relief camps can return home from Monday as water levels recede.

"By tomorrow the situation should be absolutely normal," state disaster management commissioner Preeti Sudan told AFP Sunday.

"We are trying (to ensure) that (evacuees) return by tomorrow evening or by the day after tomorrow."

State officials said the flooding had disrupted road, rail and air traffic, and caused power and telecom failures.

In coastal Kerala state, 52 people died in the past four days, the Press Trust of India reported. In neighbouring Karnataka, the death toll stood at 39.

In western Maharashtra state, 15 people died in house collapses from powerful storms and lightning strikes, PTI reported, with the heavy rain continuing into Sunday.

Mumbai, Maharashtra's capital and the country's financial hub, received almost 300 millimetres of rain in the 24 hours up to Sunday morning, causing flooding and traffic jams and raising fears of a repeat of deadly floods two years ago.

More than 400 people died in Mumbai in 2005 as silted drains were unable to handle a surprise deluge of monsoon rains that flooded the seaside city.

The monsoon season, which runs from June to September, accounts for about 80 percent of India's annual rainfall, vital for a farm economy which lacks adequate irrigation facilities.

However, the flooding also causes hundreds of deaths and damage to infrastructure, homes and farms across India.

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