Thousands of vehicles were pulled out of the snow, but more than a thousand remained stuck in the area on Saturday.
AP | Among the deceased were 10 men, 10 children and two women
At least 22 people trapped in their vehicles amid a heavy nighttime snowfall in Pakistan have died, authorities said Saturday. Temperatures fell to -8 degrees Celsius (17.6 Fahrenheit) in the town of Murree, a tourist town in the mountains of the Asian country.
Eight of the fatalities belonged to the family of Naveed Iqbal, an Islamabad policeman, who also perished, explained one of his colleagues, Atiq Ahmed. All of the victims died of hypothermia, authorities added.
The rescue services doctor Abdur Rehman said that following evacuating all the tourists stranded in their cars, the total death toll was 22 people, including 10 men, 10 children and two women.
Thousands of vehicles were pulled out of the snow, but more than a thousand remained stuck in the area on Saturday, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed reported.
Murree – 45.5 kilometers (28 miles) north of the capital Islamabad – is a popular winter resort that receives more than a million tourists a year. During winter, access roads are often blocked by snow.
The interior minister added that the snowfall exceeded 1.2 meters (4 feet) in height in the area overnight and that all access traffic was paralyzed on Saturday. Aid was requested from paramilitary troops and a special army mountain unit, he added.
“Until now no vehicle or person on foot is allowed into Murree, except for emergency and rescue vehicles and those who bring food to trapped people, “he said.
Umar Maqbool, a local official, said that heavy snowfall hampered rescue efforts overnight and that even heavy equipment brought to the area to clear snow was stopped at first.
Authorities did not provide further details on those killed in the cars, but said the teams were working on both search and rescue operations.
Stranded tourists received blankets and food overnight, Maqbool said.
Most of the roads leading to the area’s resorts were largely cleared of snow later Saturday, although work continued, the official added. Soldiers and machinery tried to clean all the streets and the army set up camps in military schools to provide shelter and food.
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