Pakistan mourns tragic deaths in Murree blizzard

Pakistan mourns tragic deaths in the Murree blizzard on Saturday.

Murree was declared calamity hit following the death of at least 21 people after heavy snow trapped them in their vehicles as tens of thousands of visitors thronged the city.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he was shocked and upset at the tragic deaths of tourists on road to Murree.

Read more: 21 dead after thousands of tourists left stranded as routes to Murree closed amid heavy snowfall

In a tweet on Saturday, he said that the unprecedented snowfall and rush of people proceeding without checking weather conditions caught the district administration unprepared.

“Shocked & upset at tragic deaths of tourists on road to Murree. Unprecedented snowfall & rush of ppl proceeding without checking weather conditions caught district admin unprepared. Have ordered inquiry & put in place strong regulation to ensure prevention of such tragedies,” he tweeted.

Punjab government has imposed an emergency in the region, declaring it a calamity-hit area. 

Five platoons of Army and personnel of Rangers and Frontier Corps have been summoned in for the rescue operation as local administrations crumbed in face of the daunting situation.

 

On the other hand, the blame game continues on social media, igniting a debate whether it was sheer negligence of the citizens or mismanagement of the authorities.