LAHORE, Oct 20: Four people, including two children, were killed when their house collapsed in Misri Shah on Friday apparently owing to Thursday’s heavy rain.

Reports said Muhammad Ishaq, a small trader, lived in a double-storey house at Haidery Mohallah in Chah Miran along with his wife and a son, Naveed, 30. The house had for long been in a state of disrepair, but Ishaq could not spare money for renovation out of his meager resources.

His daughter Saima, 25, along with her two children — Omar, 2, and Zimaima, 4 — had come to her father’s house for the last few days.

On Friday morning, witnesses said Ishaq’s house collapsed at 11.30am. Ishaq and his wife had gone to a neighbour’s house while his daughter, son and two children present there were buried alive.

The area people initiated the rescue work, which was joined by the Rescue-1122 and other civic agencies. Saima and her children were recovered dead when the rescuers managed to pull them out. However, Naveed was alive and was shifted to the Mayo Hospital where he succumbed to injuries.

A neighbour, however, claimed that the house of Ishaq collapsed when the wall of a triple-storey adjacent house fell on it. Its structure was already affected by the Thursday’s rain, he added.

The bodies were handed over to the family without autopsy.

In another incident, three passersby were injured when the shade of a four-storey building fell on them on Dhani Ram Road in New Anarkali on Friday.

Witnesses said the shade of the building, which houses shoe and cloth stores, had been in a dilapidated condition for long. On Friday evening, it fell causing injuries to three passersby — Irfan, Akram and Jamal.

The injured were taken to Mayo Hospital where their condition was stated be stable.

Meanwhile, rescue agencies reached the spot and got the building vacated and cordoned off the area.

SPO suspended: The inspector general of Punjab police has suspended from service the Gulshan Ravi SPO on charges of misconduct and misuse of power.

According to a police spokesman, DSP Chaudhry Mohammad Ashfaq had favoured an accused during investigation for his release from a court. An inquiry was conducted by the DIG investigation in which the DSP was found guilty.

In the light of the inquiry report, the IG suspended the DSP from service and ordered a departmental action against him.