ISLAMABAD (AP) — Heavy smog loaded with pollutants has covered several urban and rural areas in eastern Pakistan, prompting breathing problems, and causing more than 20 deaths in traffic accidents caused by poor visibility on highways, officials and a senior meteorologist said.



Several cities in Punjab province, including the provincial capital Lahore, have been engulfed in haze since earlier this week. Meteorologist Mohammad Hanid told The Associated Press that the smog is "very unusual and it contains toxic air."



He said the smog has caused irritation in residents' eyes and an increase in respiratory-related health problems.



Hanif said that along with Beijing and New Delhi, eastern Pakistan is now experiencing chronic smog caused largely by factory emissions and motor vehicle exhaust.



With scores of residents reporting respiratory problems and irritated eyes, doctors are advising residents to try to stay indoors and wear facemasks outside.



Saba Mumtaz, a medical specialist at the Shaukat Khanum Cancer hospital, said the smog is particularly dangerous for residents with pre-existing respiratory conditions such as asthma.



Experts say increasing construction dust, burning of garbage, factory emissions and motor vehicle exhausts are all contributing factors to the phenomenon.



Since Monday, more than 20 people have been killed in smog-related traffic accidents in Punjab province. Police have been forced to close several stretches of the main highway that connects Punjab with the capital, Islamabad. </s> LAHORE: At least 17 people have died in different smog-related incidents in Punjab, while the polluted haze has also resulted in outbreak of diseases in several cities of the province.

At least two people were killed and five injured on Friday when two truck collided near Harrappa, Sahiwal.

The prevailing smog in Punjab has been causing enough difficulties to the citizen, as they complain of breathing issue, throat infection and pneumonia. An increase in number of patients is being observed at hospitals, with particularly young and elderly people in majority among them.

During last 12 hours, as many as 1,200 patients visited hospitals due to smog-related emergencies. In Jinnah Hospital, 130 children and 30 senior citizens were brought to hospital's emergency.

Motorway reopened

The motorway - leading from Lahore to Pindi Bhattian and from Pindi Bhattian to Faisalabad - has also been reopened after a brief closure as the visibility came down to zero on Thursday night. Authorities have advised the masses to travel at low speed and use fog lamps to avoid accidents.

Motorway authorities have advised people to travel and groups and maintain distance between cars.

Health advisory

Health experts have advised the people to avoid going out unnecessarily and recommended wearing masks and glasses while in open. It is further recommended that the heart patients should take steam regularly and avoid cold beverages.

'Rain expected'

Meanwhile, Director General Pakistan Meteorological Department Dr. Ghulam Rasool informed that a weak rain system will be entering Pakistan, resulting in light rainfall in Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa and upper Punjab in next 24 hours, which will give a temporary relief to the citizens from smog.

Hospitals on alert

Advisor to Punjab CM on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique said that if the smog situation persists, schools across Punjab can be closed. Speaking at a press conference along with the committee members, he said that hospitals are on alert all across the province. </s> ISLAMABAD — A senior Pakistani meteorologist says heavy smog loaded with pollutants has covered the city of Lahore and elsewhere, causing breathing problems and disrupting normal traffic.

Mohammad Hanif said Saturday that several cities in eastern Pakistan have been engulfed in haze since earlier this week. He said the smog has caused irritation in residents' eyes and an increase in respiratory-related health problems. </s> LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani official says at least 12 people have been killed in a car bombing in the eastern city of Lahore. </s> LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani government minister says investigators have concluded that a deadly explosion the previous day in the city of Lahore was caused by a gas leak from a cooking cylinder, not a bomb.

Rana Sanaullah says experts found no traces of explosives at the scene of the blast in a restaurant in the eastern Pakistani city.

His statement on Friday countered that of the Counter-Terrorism Department, which said on Thursday that a bomb caused the explosion.

Initially, police said eight died but Sanaullah revised the death toll to seven killed.

He says the explosion was obviously an “accident” and is in no way linked to a string of militant attacks that have killed more than 125 people over the past two weeks across Pakistan. </s> At least six people have been killed by an explosion in the Pakistani city of Lahore, officials say, according to BBC.

The blast ripped through a shopping area, wounding another 30 people.

The cause is unknown. Initial reports suggested an electricity generator exploded but police said later it may have been a bomb.

Pakistan has been hit by a wave of bombings claimed by Islamist militant groups in recent days. There was no immediate claim for the latest blast.

It happened in Lahore's Defence Housing Authority suburb. Television footage showed buildings and cars damaged by the blast. </s> LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - A Pakistani government minister says investigators have concluded that a deadly explosion the previous day in the city of Lahore was caused by a gas leak from a cooking cylinder, not a bomb.

Rana Sanaullah says experts found no traces of explosives at the scene of the blast in a restaurant in the eastern Pakistani city.

His statement on Friday countered that of the Counter-Terrorism Department, which said on Thursday that a bomb caused the explosion.

Police cordon off the area of explosion in Lahore, Pakistan, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. A Pakistani provincial minister says an explosion has killed at least eight people in the eastern city of Lahore. The violence is the latest in a string of brazen suicide bombings and other attacks over the past two weeks that have killed over 125 people. The attacks have been claimed by an array of militant groups, including the Islamic State group and a splinter Taliban faction, and have prompted a countrywide crackdown on militants. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Initially, police said eight died but Sanaullah revised the death toll to seven killed.

He says the explosion was obviously an "accident" and is in no way linked to a string of militant attacks that have killed more than 125 people over the past two weeks across Pakistan. </s> At least six people have been reported killed and 15 injured in an explosion in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.

"This was a suicide blast," Punjab government spokesman Malik Ahmed Khan said on April 5, adding that the attack targeted an army vehicle taking part in Pakistan's census.

Khan said the dead included four soldiers and two civilians.

"It appears to have been an act of terrorism," Punjab provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said.

The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) extremist group claimed responsibility for what it called a suicide attack.

On February 13, a Taliban suicide-bomb attack in Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province, killed 14 people.

With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters </s> Pakistani police say at least 19 people have been killed and 35 injured after two buses collided in the eastern province of Punjab.

Officer Imran Yaqoob said the collision took place late on October 21 over a bridge near the city of Dera Ghazi Khan, some 450 kilometers west of the provincial capital, Lahore.

Yaqoob said the death toll could increase as many of the wounded were in critical condition.

Yaqoob said both buses were speeding when they collided.

Local officials said 15 people were killed on impact, while four other succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

Traffic accidents are common in Pakistan, where poor road conditions, poorly maintained vehicles, and disregard for safety standards and traffic rules by drivers cause more than 5,000 deaths every year, according to government statistics.

Based on reporting by AP and Dawn
At least 15 people are killed in an outbreak of heavy smog in the Pakistani province of Punjab.