In Pakistan, lightning and rain cause 36 fatalities

In the last three days, lightning and torrential rains have killed at least 36 people in Pakistan, most of them farmers, according to officials, who also proclaimed a state of emergency in the southwest of the nation on Monday.

According to Arfan Kathia, a spokesperson for the provincial disaster management office, the majority of the casualties happened in eastern Punjab province when lightning hit farmers harvesting wheat and rains caused buildings to collapse. He warned that this week will likely see additional rain.

Over the weekend, rains that also battered the nation’s capital, Islamabad, killed seven people in the southwestern province of Baluchistan and eight more in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan. Baluchistan’s authorities proclaimed a state of emergency.