LAHORE, Sept 2: Five people, including three children, were killed and 26 others injured as torrential rain lashing Lahore and several other towns of central Punjab since Friday caused flooding and collapse of buildings on Saturday.

River Chenab and seasonal nullahs snaking through Sialkot and Gujranwala were in high flood, with administration evacuating residents of vulnerable areas to safer places.

Reports said that 10 houses and the roof of a factory collapsed in Lahore.

The rain paralysed life in Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Sheikhupura and Gujrat, flooding most roads and low-lying areas.

The temperature dropped to a record 22 degrees C against the month’s average of over 36 degrees C. After Lahore, Gujranwala division was the worst hit where nearly 200mm of rainfall was recorded during the past 24 hours.

Heavy rain was also reported from bordering Indian cities.

Five of the 10 houses that collapsed in Lahore were in a state of disrepair since long.

Three children were killed and five people, including two minors, injured when the roof of a house collapsed here in North Cantonment. The dead were identified as Rimsha, 4, Nisba, 2, and Naveed, 3.

Six workers were performing their duties in a paint-manufacturing factory on Bund Road when its roof collapsed. The Rescue 1122 teams reached the spot and shifted them to hospitals where one Muhammad Shakeel succumbed to injuries.

Five members of a family were in their house at Bogiwal, Mughalpura, when it caved in. They were trapped under the rubble. Neighbours and the rescue workers pulled them out and took them to hospital where the condition of three siblings — Nadeem, 14, Rashid, 12 Shera, 15 — was said to be critical.

Four people suffered injuries when a house in Jamil Park, Shahdara collapsed. They were taken to hospital where one Huma Butt, 35, was said to be in serious condition.

Five houses collapsed in Mozang, Ichhara, Lohari, Bibi Pak Daman and Bhatti Gate areas. However, these buildings had already been vacated considering their dilapidated condition.

The collapse of two houses in Tajpura and Daroghwala left six people injured.

A youngster, Awais Ahmad, was electrocuted while operating a photostat machine in a shop at the Lahore High Court.