ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed shock and sadness at the tragic deaths of tourists due to the extreme weather in Murree. “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,” the prime minister wrote on his official Twitter handle.

He ordered an inquiry into the Murree tragedy and vowed that strong regulations will be put in place to ensure the prevention of such tragedies in the future. Talking to the media, 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.

Lessons should be learned from Murree incident: Fawad

According to a report presented to Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on the Murree tragedy, 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.