<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Lightning and heavy rains have killed hundreds of people across Pakistan and Afghanistan.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least 50 people have died in Pakistan in storms that have been lashing the country, officials said on Tuesday, as they urged emergency services to remain on high alert. Authorities in Afghanistan also reported a death toll of 50 the same day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most of the deaths in Pakistan were reported in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where torrential rains and flash floods triggered landslides, damaged homes and uprooted trees.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rains caused dozens of houses to collapse in the northwest and in eastern Punjab province. A spokesman for the provincial disaster management authority said 21 people had died, with more rains expected this week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A spokesman for the disaster management authority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bordering Afghanistan, said 21 people died there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rain also lashed the capital, Islamabad, and killed seven people in southwestern Balochistan province. Streets flooded in the northwestern city of Peshawar and in Quetta, the Balochistan capital.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in televised remarks that he had ordered authorities to provide relief aid. Authorities have now declared a state of emergency in the southwest of the country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has asked emergency services to remain vigilant amid the forecast of severer weather conditions. - Al Jazeera&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/fas</div>