Govt notifies body to probe Murree incident

LAHORE: The Punjab government on Sunday formed an inquiry committee to determine causes and lapses that led to the deaths of stranded tourists in Murree, ARY News reported.

The high-level inquiry committee will be headed by Additional Chief Secretary to Punjab Government Zafar Nasarullah while Ali Sarfraz, Asad Gillani and Farooq Mazhar will be members of the probe body.

According to a notification issued by the Punjab govt, the committee has been directed to submit its report within seven days and identify the elements involved in negligence.

TORs

The committee will inter alia focus on the following aspects:

According to the Terms of Reference (ToRs), the committee would identify were concerned authorities including district administration, police, traffic police had coordinated any joint plan of action to prevent crisis situation in light of several warnings issued by the Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD).

Were any travel restrictions issued through electronic, print or social media to warn not to travel Murree?
Were any measures taken to regulate/ control the influx of vehicles/ tourists into Murree?
Was any traffic count kept of vehicles entering Murree?
Was any contingency plan prepared to deal with a crisis situation?
What were the lapses that contributed to the crisis?

Inquiry committe constituted to determine the causes and Lapses in #Murree, with comprehensive TORs.

The committee will complete the inquiry and determine responsibility withing 7 days
#murreetragedy #Nathiagali pic.twitter.com/yUSxeE0CAc

— Azhar Mashwani (@MashwaniAzhar) January 9, 2022

Murree roads cleared for all types of traffic

All main roads of calamity-hit Murree hill station have been cleared for all types of traffic including Kuldana-Barian Road, whereas, efforts for evacuating stranded tourists are also underway, the military’s media wing said Sunday.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that all main communication arteries of Murree have been cleared for all types of the move including Kuldana-Barian Road.

“After clearance of main roads, army engineers are now focusing road links.” Relief camps and medical facilitates are fully operating and army transport is plying for moving of stranded tourists to Rawalpindi and Islamabad, ISPR added.

Moreover, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) personnel are actively taking part in ongoing rescue and relief operations in Murree.

The air force officials have shifted more than 100 stranded tourists including women and children at the PAF Base Kalabagh and Lower Topa Base.

Murree tragedy

At least 22 tourists who were stranded in their vehicles due to heavy snowfall died of the extreme weather in Murree on Friday night.

According to a report on the Murree tragedy presented to Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar by the Rawalpindi administration, more than 100,000 vehicles entered Murree over the past three days. 12,000 of them exited the hill station while the rest got stuck.