PM orders inquiry into Murree tragedy

Prime Minister Imran Khan, while expressing his shock and grief over the deaths of tourists in Murree, ordered on Saturday an inquiry into the tragedy and called preparing regulations to avert such tragedies in future.

Imran said in a tweeted that heavy snowfall and a huge rush of tourists 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 & putting in place strong regulation to ensure prevention of such tragedies,” Imran tweeted.

Meanwhile addressing a press conference in Lahore, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that a record snowfall in Murree and its suburbs during the last 48 hours and an extraordinary rush of tourists to the hill resort caused traffic jam in the area and resulted in the tragic loss of precious lives.

He told reporters that Prime Minister Imran Khan had taken stern notice of the incident and directed Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to reach Murree, adding that Chief Minister Buzdar had already left Lahore for the hill station.

“Due to heavy snowfall the situation deteriorated,” the minister said, referring to the death of nearly two dozen stranded tourists on the Murree Road. “More difficult situation arose in Kuldana and Barrian, and unfortunately precious human lives had been lost in these areas.”

He said that five Army platoons had joined the local administration and other rescue personnel in Murree, adding that the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) machinery had been deployed. “The Murree-Islamabad Expressway has been cleared and evacuation of stranded people was under way.”
For a week now, the 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 that the tourists should refrain from traveling there.

“If such a large number of tourists would throng these areas in a short time, the problems are bound to arise,” he said. “It was difficult for any administration to handle such a sudden situation,” he added. There is a lot of rush [in the upcountry areas] and there is no room for more people.”

The minister appealed to media that as a strong forum it should inform the people about the situation in the upper areas. “We want to promote tourism but it does not mean that such a large number of people reach tourist resorts within 48 hours,” the minister added.

The minister said that the government was fully alert, and it stood with the people and the situation was improving and process of evacuation had been started. The entire nation regretted the loss of lives in Murree and adjoining areas, he added.

Replying to the media questions, the minister stressed that all humanly possible measures were taken by the administration to address the situation. He told reporters that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insafs (PTI) National Assembly Member Sadaqat Abbasi was currently in Murree to supervise the rescue operations.

“The administration has taken emergency measures, but all should realise that such a situation should not have arisen. This was a novel situation because such an influx of tourists was never witnessed in the past. We should learn from this incident to avoid such incidents in the future.”

Lamenting the attitude of the opposition parties over the tragedy, Chaudhry said that Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who had himself been elected from Murree in the past, held press conferences in Rawalpindi, instead of going to help the people.

He also criticised the PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, saying that the senior PML-N leader, who was enjoying holidays, also showed her apathy towards the affected people through her senseless reaction. He said that the opposition leaders there just to make noises.