Suburban services of Central Railway were suspended since 8 pm, and those of Western Railway since 9 pm, due to flooding of tracks at Sion, Matunga and other low-lying areas.

``In just three hours, from 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm, the Met offices at Colaba and Santacruz have registered 71.8 mm and 75.5 mm of rainfall respectively,'' a Weather Bureau official said. Today's rainfall was the heaviest since the last one month, he added.

According to fire brigade and police sources, Usman Gani Qureishi (18) and his four friends were injured when lightning struck the tree under which they were standing at Lion Garden off L B S Marg, Kurla. The strike could have been fatal, but the foursome escaped with injuries as they were protected by the tree.

While Qureishi was admitted to the Sion hospital withburn injuries on his face and neck, his friends were admitted to a private hospital nearby.

The other lightning strike was reported from near Maheshwari Udyan, where four persons, identified as Harishchandra, Tukaram, Mangesh Dhondu and Rajesh Bhagat, were injured. The were also admitted to Sion hospital.

Three more unidentified persons were injured when they were struck by lightning at R K Chowk at Trombay.

Meanwhile, almost all low-lying areas in the eastern and western suburbs at King's Circle, Andheri, Santacruz, Kurla, Sion, etc. were flooded under about three feet of water within a matter of hours.

``I was lucky to reach home early, as the entire area around Gandhi Market is flooded and choked with hundreds of stranded vehicles,'' said R Sridhar, a resident of King's Circle.

A CR spokesperson said there was 14 inches of water on the tracks at Sion and GTB Nagar, hence services were being run only beyond Kurla.