Four dead in Baghdad heavy rain

Four dead in Baghdad heavy rain

An Iraqi woman carries her child as she wades through flood water, after heavy rain in Baghdad, Iraq on December 26, 2012.

At least four people have died and several others injured after unusually heavy rain flooded Iraq's capital Baghdad, officials say.

A police officer said on Wednesday that four family members, including two men and two women, were killed on Tuesday night after their house collapsed in northeast of Baghdad due to heavy rainfall. Another woman was also injured. 

The rainstorm was reportedly the heaviest to hit the Iraqi capital this year, forcing the government to declare an emergency national holiday.

Five other people were also reportedly injured in the outskirts of Baghdad's Sadr City, after two mud houses collapsed in heavy rain. 

Iraq’s Meteorological Organization said that 6.75 centimeters (2.56 inches) of rain fell on Tuesday in the capital, adding it was the most rain in Baghdad in 30 years. 

The heavy rain prompted the government to declare Wednesday a public holiday .It was the fourth time this year that the government spurred to declare national holidays due to bad weather, the previous three times were in summer because of heat. 

SAB/SZH