(Dunya News) MURREE – Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the Federal Minister of the Interior, announced on Saturday that 16-19 persons died as a result of the snowstorm in Murree and other northern locations.
Four of the victims were buddies who were visiting Murree from Mardan, according to police. They died of exposure to the elements after spending the night in their car owing to a massive traffic backup.
The local government has initiated an attempt to rescue the stranded visitors, but crews are having difficulty owing to a lack of mobile service and energy.
The administrations of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, on the other hand, have closed the routes to Murree and Galiyat due to a huge number of vehicles accessing the hill station as a result of the heavy snowfall.
Thousands of tourists descended on the hill area on Friday to observe the snowfall, which caused major traffic congestion on the Murree-Islamabad Highway. To avert a worsening traffic gridlock, the authorities decided to stop all types of traffic heading towards the hill station.
Meanwhile, the highway police and local government are assisting tourists who have become stopped in their cars due to the heavy traffic. The procedure for returning the autos from Murree has already begun.
Fawad Chaudhry, the Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting, has also asked people to postpone their plans to travel northern areas for a few days due to major traffic jams.
Hundreds of thousands of automobiles are travelling towards these places, according to Fawad Chaudhry, generating challenges for local governments that are unable to accommodate such a big number of tourists.
People who had not yet left their homes were asked to postpone their plans, according to the ministry.