Trapped inside their vehicles. At least 21 people died in their vehicles following a heavy snowstorm near Murree, a mountain town in northern Pakistan.
Pakistani rescue services, Rescue 1122, released a list of 21 people who died, including a policeman, his wife and their six children. Hasaan Khawar, a spokesperson for the Punjab government, said they were frozen to death in their car.
Police confirmed that eight people froze to death in their car but it was not immediately clear whether the other victims died from the same cause or from carbon monoxide poisoning inhaled in the cabin of their car. vehicle.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the army was mobilized to clear the roads and rescue the thousands of people still stranded near Murree, located about 70 kilometers northeast of the capital Islamabad.
According to a spokesman for the Murree police, more than 100,000 vehicles had entered the city, located about 70 kilometers from the capital Islamabad, in the past three days, causing huge traffic jams.
Despite warnings from authorities, visitors had flocked to see the unusual snowfall in this small tourist town, which is very popular among residents of the capital.
According to the authorities of the province of Punjab, Murree has been declared a “disaster zone” and residents are called upon to stay away.
