LAHORE: One person died and 33 others were injured in accidents on roads covered by dense fog that continued to disrupt road and air traffic in Punjab and Sindh in the last 24 hours.

According to the Rescue 1122 on Tuesday, 22 road accidents were reported from Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sahiwal, Jhang, Kasur, Hafizabad, Okara, Sheikhupura, Nankana and Narowal. The injured were admitted to nearby hospitals, a spokesman said.

Lahore airport was closed on Sunday and Monday nights due to poor visibility. Motorway from Lahore to Pindi Bhattian and from there to Faisalabad and Gojra, and from Lahore to Sheikhupura too were closed during these two nights due to poor visibility.

Motorway Police and National Highway Authority spokesman Imran Shah said thick fog reduced visibility to zero at the highway right from Gujrat to Sukkur in Sindh.

Fog has also been affecting life in the plains of Punjab and Sindh for the last three days.

Temperatures further dropped in Lahore on Tuesday where the maximum temperature was 17 degrees Celsius and the minimum 9 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Islamabad was 5 degrees Celsius, in Peshawar 8, in Faisalabad and Multan 11. In Skardu it was -6 degrees Celsius, in Kalam and Hunza -5, Astore -4, Gupis and Malamjabba -3, Kalat and Rawalakot -2, and Dir 1.

The Met department forecast mainly cold and dry weather in most parts of the country in the next 24 hours. Light rain (snowfall over the hills) is expected at isolated places in Malakand division, upper Fata, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Dense foggy conditions are likely to continue over the plain areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and upper Sindh in the next 24 hours.

Published in Dawn December 14th, 2016