Ground Report | New Delhi: What happened in Murree Pakistan; Pakistan’s relief and rescue officials have said that at least 21 people have died due to heavy snowfall in and around Muri and Punjab provinces. Mari Hill Station is called the ‘Queen of Hills’ and during winters a large number of tourists come here.
What happened in Murree Pakistan
Due to the snowfall here, vehicles were blocked on the roads and thousands of people were forced to spend the night on the road in the cold. Now the entry of tourists has been banned in this area. The government has closed the Islamabad-Mari national highway and imposed a state of emergency in Murree and surrounding districts.
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Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Saturday that at least 21 tourists trapped in vehicles had died as a result of heavy snowfall at Murree, a resort near the federal capital.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid has said, “After 15-20 years, such a large number of tourists have gone to Pakistan due to which a difficult situation has arisen. Due to this we have to ban every way to go there. There are still thousands of vehicles stuck on the roads there, we are trying to get them out.”
“Right now only vehicles carrying essential items for ration and relief work are being allowed to go there.” He said that “the roads will remain closed till tomorrow evening, we are closing the roads for pedestrians.”
In a statement released on the Twitter handle of the state-run radio, he said, “Despite our best efforts, snowfall has closed Murree and Galyat roads in the last 12 hours and tourists have been stranded in their vehicles.” There are those who are facing a shortage of food and warm clothes.
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In a viral video, it can be seen that some children and adults are lying unconscious in a car that is not moving. In a video produced by a tourist stranded in Murree, a man is saying that these people in the car have died due to cold.
Clearing the road with machinery
A statement issued by the Pakistan Army’s Public Relations Department said that troops in Murree were assisting the civil administration and troops from the Murree Division were assisting in evacuating people trapped in traffic.
The statement said that Army Engineers have also been deployed to open the main highways and all the Bowser and Machinery Roads of the division are busy in the opening.
According to an ISPR statement, Frontier Works Organization (FWO) personnel were assisting in clearing the road with machinery. In a video message on Saturday morning, Sheikh Rashid said that a thousand vehicles were still stranded on the road to Murree and the help of FC, Rangers, and Army personnel had been sought for rescue operations.
In a video statement, he said that so far 16 to 19 people have been confirmed dead who were trapped in their vehicles. The interior minister did not provide further details on the casualties but said efforts were being made to evacuate those trapped on the road.
Meanwhile, a statement issued on the Twitter handle of the Punjab government said that all rest houses and government institutions in Murree and adjoining areas have been opened for tourists.
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