KARACHI, July 18 At least 15 people were killed and more than 100 others injured on Saturday as the first monsoon downpour wrought havoc on the city's civic infrastructure and left many people stranded.

The Baghdadi police said that a 50-year-old man was killed when he was hit by a stray bullet on Ahmed Shah Bukhari Road, where unidentified youths resorted to heavy firing into the air in jubilation for the rainfall.

The victim, Ganpat, son of Aasaji, a labourer and the father of four, was fatally wounded near his home when he was on his way back after buying flour from a nearby grocery shop.The police said the fatally wounded man died while he was being taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where a post-mortem examination was conducted on his body. Hospital sources said the victim received a single bullet wound in his chest.

Five people, including a 35-year-old woman and her six-year-old daughter, were killed in rain-related incidents in Toori Bangash Pahari, a shantytown on the hills in Orangi Town in the Iqbal Town police remit.

The area SHO, Inspector Liaquat Hussain, told Dawn that a six-month-old boy, Ali, son of Abdur Rasheed, and 50-year-old Hafeezan Khatoon, wife of Islamuddin, were killed separately when the roofs of their houses collapsed.

He said a 35-year-old woman, Shakila, wife of Sher Khan, and her daughter, Zulekha, were killed when a wall of their house collapsed due to heavy rainfall coupled with gusty winds.

He said that a 25-year-old man, Saeed Ahmed Jan, son of Raheem Khan, was killed when the roof of his house collapsed.

At least four people, including a five-month-old girl, were reportedly killed in rain-related incidents in different shantytowns in and around Ittehad Town, in the remit of the Mochkoh police station.

Residents said three people were killed when a parapet of an under-construction house collapsed due to rain. They said the incident took place near the route D-11 minibus terminus.

They said the debris fell on the two adjoining houses, killing six-month-old Mahek, in one of the houses and two passers-by, Bakhtiar and Zahir Shah, who were labourers and residents of Ittehad Town.

The area SHO, Inspector Rao Farman, confirmed to Dawn the deaths of four people in the remit of his police station. “The police have no record of those deaths as the victims' relatives did not proceed with the medico-legal proceedings,” he said.

Mr Farman said the owner of a roadside restaurant was killed in Mohammed Khan Colony, a shantytown near Ittehad Town, in a wall collapse incident. “The name of the victim could not be ascertained immediately,” he added.

A 26-year-old man, Khaliquzzaman alias Jaseem, son of Qamaruzzaman, was killed when he fell from the rooftop of a house in Orangi Town in the remit of the Pakistan Bazaar police.

The police said the victim was enjoying himself in the rain on the rooftop of his in-laws when he overbalanced due to strong winds and fell to the ground. They said the man died instantly and his body was later moved to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

A 35-year-old man was electrocuted in Korangi's 100 Quarters in the remit of the Ibrahim Haideri police. The victim, Noor Mohammed, son of Azhar Khan, was a fisherman. He died when he received a fatal electric shock while wading through the accumulated rainwater.

Meanwhile, a six-year-old boy drowned in a rainwater drain at Abdur Rehman Goth, near Hawkesbay. The name of the victim, who was swimming in the drain, could not be ascertained immediately.

Meanwhile, two people were reported killed at Shah Waliullah Nagar, a locality in the remit of Orangi Town police.

Residents said a woman, Hajra, was killed when the rooftop of her house collapsed due to heavy rains.

They said a young man, identified as Mohammed Ali, died after he was fatally wounded when a tin sheet from a roof fell on him. However, the area police did not confirm the incident saying that the bodies were not brought to any government hospital for medico-legal proceedings.

Moreover, thousands of chickens died when the rooftops of 11 poultry farms collapsed due to heavy rains and gusty winds near Hawkesay in the remit of the Mauripur police station.