All stranded tourists in Murree rescued: NDMA chairman

ISLAMABAD: National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman, Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz has said all stranded tourists have been shifted to safer places from the calamity-hit area Murree.

Exclusively talking to ARY News, the chairman NDMA said 371 tourists have been shifted to the relief camps set up by the Pakistan Army before the night.

Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz said Pakistan Army worked together with the civil administration in the evacuation operation. Replying to a query, he said almost 90 per cent of roads in Murree have been reopened for traffic that were blocked due to heavy snowfall.

Relief work underway at Barian Road and road heading towards Abbottabad, he added. He said the Control Room, under the supervision of Commissioner Rawalpindi, has also been established at Murree to provide assistance to stranded tourists.

Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz Satti said that the emerging situation is very challenging and the NDMA is taking all possible steps to normalize the situation.

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.

The death toll has soared to 22 while a rescue and evacuation operation is underway in the hilly area. The deceased tourists hailed from Karachi, Lahore, Mardan and other cities.

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.

The report put the death toll at 20 and said the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had not alerted the district administration about the unprecedented snowfall that the hilly area was to receive.

Murree received five feet of snowfall, it said, adding the roads leading to the hill station were closed on the night of Jan 6 with people advised to avoid travelling to the area yet tourists in the large number reached there.