PESHAWAR: At least 26 people were killed and more than 180 injured Sunday after a storm struck Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar causing dozens of buildings to collapse, officials said.

Fallen trees, rubble from buildings and mobile phone towers had blocked several main roads, an AFP reporter at the scene said, while flood water from torrential rainfall had reached three feet (one metre) deep in some parts of the city of more than three million people.

“The death toll has risen to 26 and 180 people have been injured,” senior local government official Riaz Khan Mehsud told AFP. Dr Niaz Saeed, a senior police official, confirmed the figures.

Mushtaq Ali Shah, director of the provincial meteorological department, described the storm as a “mini cyclone with wind speeds of 110 kilometres per hour (68 miles per hour)”.

He added the cyclone had lost speed but heavy rainfall was expected in the province's northern districts over the next three to four hours.

Mehsud told AFP that rescue operations were being hampered due to blocked roads, while the collapse of mobile towers was disrupting communication.

The military was also called in to boost rescue efforts, equipped with ground penetrating radars, concrete cutters and sniffer dogs, according to a tweet by DG ISPR Maj Gen Asim Bajwa.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his grief over the loss of life and property.

He extended condolences to the aggrieved families and asked the provincial government and disaster management authorities to gear up rescue efforts so as to control the damage, a statement by his office said.

According to DawnNews, several houses and buildings collapsed in Peshawar’s Pakha Ghulam area, Charsadda road, Samar Bagh, Budhni area, Liaquatabad and Sadiqabad, killing dozens.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has declared emergency in several hospitals so that efficient and immediate medical relief is provided to victims.

In August 2014, at least 17 people were killed and more than 80 injured in rain-related incidents and hailstorms in various parts of Peshawar as roofs and walls of buildings collapsed due to heavy rain.

Explore: At least 17 dead as torrential rain lashes KP, Fata.

At the time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced compensation of Rs300,000 to the family members of each of the deceased and Rs100,000 to each injured person, while KP Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak had also announced compensation for the affected families.