Tourists barred from traveling to Murree from Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Federal government has banned the entry of tourists coming from Islamabad to Murree, a day after the hill station saw at least 21 deaths owing to heaving snowfall and roads closure, ARY NEWS reported.

According to details, four checkpoints have been established on the road leading to Murree from Islamabad and only locals are being allowed to travel to the hill station after checking their national identity cards.

The evacuation of tourists in Murree is also in progress and no one is being allowed to travel to the hill station on the weekend.

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 Friday night.

Talking to ARY News, Divisional Emergency Officer Abdul Rehman confirmed 21 tourists died of cold at the hill station that has been declared a calamity-hit area with the army troops called in to rescue tourists who are still stranded there.

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.