Pakistan's Punjab province declared a health emergency due to toxic smog on Friday, banning construction, shutting schools for another week and moving universities online, while hundreds of thousands of Muslims prayed for rain and forgiveness.

The Punjab government is extending school closures for another week due to hazardous smog levels, according to Ary News. Public and private schools, as well as tuition centers, will now remain closed until November 24.

With smog intensity escalating in Lahore at the end of October, affecting its 13 million residents, the Punjab government imposed a “green lockdown” and set up a “smog war room.”

Pakistan's most populated province of Punjab on Friday extended school closures in smog-hit major cities by a week, as the country battles record

The government of Pakistan’s most polluted province has launched a new policy to address a protracted smog crisis, after the world’s worst air shuttered schools and saw 900 people seek hospital treatment in a single day.

LAHORE, Pakistan A Pakistani province declared a health emergency Friday due to smog and imposed a shutdown in two major cities.Smog has choked Punja..

The U.N. children’s agency is warning that the health of 11 million children in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province is in danger because of air pollution that experts say has become a fifth season in r

Pakistan's province of Punjab set up a "smog war room" to tackle severe pollution, officials said, as poor air quality turned its capital of Lahore into the world's most polluted city and forced the closure of some educational institutions.