Families, citizens stranded in Murree shifted to rest houses, hotels: CM Buzdar

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said on Saturday that families and citizens stranded in Murree have been shifted to rest houses and hotels, adding that their needs, including medicines, food, and warm clothes are being met.

"According to police records, there were 33,745 vehicles that entered Murree till last night out of which 33,373 vehicles have been evacuated," CM Buzdar said in a Twitter post.

The CM said that the expressway road is completely clear and snow and trees are being removed from Kaldana to the Barian area.

"All the management of the Rawalpindi division is present in the rescue operation," he added.

Earlier, CM Buzdar had declared an emergency in Murree and directed the chief secretary, IG Police, Relief Commissioner, DG Rescue and PDMA to conduct self-monitoring of rescue activities.

At least 22 tourists have died in the cars stuck in Murree due to snowfall and subsequent traffic congestion.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Saturday that the district administration was caught unprepared with the rush of people in Murree, ordering an inquiry and putting in place strong regulations to ensure the prevention of such tragedies.

In a similar statement, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said that lessons should be learned from the Murree tragedy, saying that there was a need to devise strategies to respond to such situations effectively in the future

The Pakistan Meteorological Department had predicted heavy snowfall in Murree and Galiyat from January 6 to 9.