BAGHDAD –  Iraqi officials say four people have died and seven were hurt when their shoddy houses collapsed in unusually heavy rain.

A police officer said Wednesday that a house in the town of Mohammed al-Sakran, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Baghdad, collapsed Tuesday night, killing a woman and three children. He says their parents were injured.

Tuesday's rainstorm was heaviest in in the Baghdad this winter, flooding streets and forcing the government to declare an emergency public holiday.

The police officer said five other people were hurt when two mud houses collapsed in the outskirts of Baghdad's Sadr City slum.

Two health officials confirmed the causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information to reporters.