Those responsible for Murree tragedy deserve to be hanged: IHC

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Islamabad High Court (IHC) Athar Minallah has remarked that those responsible for the Murree tragedy deserve to be hanged, adding that there was no need for inquiry in the case.

A petition seeking action into the Murree tragedy was heard by Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court Athar Minallah.

Hamad Abbasi, a resident of Murree, appeared in the court along with his lawyer during the hearing of his petition. The lawyer requested the court to take action against those responsible for the Murree tragedy for their criminal negligence.

The lawyer said that the family of the deceased ASI Naveed had informed the higher authorities about the situation, but the prime minister, interior minister and the police did not take any action despite receiving the information.

The lawyer further said why more than 100,000 tourists were allowed to come to Murree? The failure of all senior officials to take action on the incident shows their criminal negligence.

The court then summoned Deputy Attorney General Tayyab Shah to the rostrum. The CJ asked the deputy attorney general what is meant by disaster management.

After being summoned by the IHC bench, the NDMA officials appeared in the court. The Chief Justice summoned them to the rostrum and rebuked them over their failure in protecting the precious lives of the tourists.

The court expressed outrage over the negligence of NDMA officials and questioned them as to who was responsible for the 22 deaths in the tragedy? The performance of NDMA should have been visible to all.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that NDMA is such a huge department, have they even held a meeting. There must have been a proper management plan to avoid any incident like Murree tragedy”, Chief Justice added.

Later, the hearing was adjourned until Friday.

Murree tragedy

It is pertinent to mention here that at least 22 tourists who were stranded in their vehicles due to heavy snowfall died of the extreme weather in Murree on last Friday night.

An initial investigation report of the Murree tragedy exposed the administrative flaws during the influx of tourists to the scenic hill station during snowfall.