Record snowfall, extraordinary rush of tourists led to Murree tragedy, claims Fawad.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Saturday that during last 48 hours record snowfall in Murree and its suburbs and extraordinary rush of tourists caused traffic jam in the area which resulted in tragic loss of precious human lives.

Addressing a press conference along with Minister for Education and Technical Training Shafqat Mehmood and Special Assistant to PM on Youth Affairs here, he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had taken stern notice of the situation and directed Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to reach Murree who had left for the hill station.

Due to heavy snowfall, he said the situation had deteriorated, more difficult situation had arisen in Kuldana and Barrian, and unfortunately precious human lives had also been lost in these areas. He said that the local administration, rescue agencies were present in Murree and adjoining areas, and now five Army platoons had also joined the operations and FWO machinery had been involved.

Difficult for any administration to handle such a sudden situation

For a week now, minister said Murree administration and the Punjab government had been warning the tourists that the weather conditions in Murree and the upper areas were not good and the tourists should refrain from traveling there. He said that the Murree- Islamabad Expressway has been cleared and evacuation of stranded people was underway.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has also opened all avenues from Nathia Gali, Fawad said.The Punjab government has also opened all the guest houses for the affected people, he said.

However he said that if such a large number of tourists would throng these areas in a short time, problems would arise.

He stated that it was difficult for any administration to handle such a sudden situation.

He appealed to media that as a...