ISLAMABAD, 2 July 2005 — Heavy rain lashed the Punjab capital of Lahore yesterday causing widespread flooding and five people were killed in accidents caused by the downpour, officials said.

Three children were electrocuted and died when they fell off their father’s motorbike after it hit an electricity pole, and two people were killed when the roof of a cafe collapsed, a city official said.

Up to 129 mm of rain fell on the city in four hours. Flooding snarled traffic, while the rain also disrupted flights to and from the city, an airport official said.

“This is the heaviest rain in a day in Lahore in six years which is why there has been heavy flooding in parts of the city,” said meteorological department official Mohammad Hanif.

Rains across much of northern Pakistan heralded the beginning of the monsoon and the end of a heat wave that killed nearly 200 people.More rain was expected over the next 24 hours, Hanif said.

The upper parts of the country were also lashed by monsoon rains since last night that brought the mercury down and turned harsh weather into pleasant one.

According to met department, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Chakwal, Gujaranwala, Kamra, Kohat, Sailkot, Murree, Kotli, Muzaffarabad and several other cities started receiving heavy downpours last night andtemperatures from dropped three to five degrees Centigrade.

The met department said Islamabad received 51 mm, Muzaffarabad 66 mm, Chakwal 56 mm, Kotli 36, Gujaranwala 28 mm, Murree 68 mm, Rawalpindi 24 mm, Sailkot 45 mm and Kohat received 08 mm of rain.

Flow of water from the Tarbela Dam raising it to 1,42,000 cusecs in Indus and 15,000 cusecs in Jhelum have triggered high-level floods in these two rivers.

The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) explaining the unusual flow of water said that the water flow into the dam had since shot up to 376,200 cusecs taking the water level to 141 feet higher from the dead level, which necessitated yesterday the release of 142,000 cusecs more water than the normal into Indus, swelling the total flow into Indus presently at 272,000 cusecs, which was only 194,200 cusecs a day earlier.

The water level in Mangla Dam is also persistently rising.