LAHORE – Pakistan mourns the death of 22 tourists in country’s resort town of Murree when their vehicles become stuck on roads due to heavy snowfall.
Many Pakistani celebrities shared the news on social media to express their sorrow on the loss of lives in the incident.
Faysal Quraishi took to Twitter and asked his follower to pray for the departed souls. “Receiving sad and disturbing videos of Muree and Galyat. Around 20 people (local tourists) including women and children have died due to extreme weather conditions. Aur jo wahan hain ALLAH pak madad farmaye aur apni amaan mey rakhay ameen [May Allah keep the people who are still there safe and help them],” he wrote.
Please pray for departed souls …Receiving sad and disturbing videos of Muree and Galyat. Around 20 people (local tourists) including women and children have died due to extreme weather conditions. Aur jo wahan hain ALLAH pak madad farmaye aur apni amaan mey rakhay ameen
— Faysal Quraishi (@faysalquraishi) January 8, 2022
Actor Saba Qamar said, “I am heartbroken to see images from Murree. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost their loved ones.” She also asked her her followers to check weather forecasts before leaving for travel.
I am heartbroken to see images from Murree. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost their loved ones. Please check travel advisory before traveling in extreme weather conditions 💔
— Saba Qamar (@s_qamarzaman) January 8, 2022
Armeena Khan said, “Where is the cold weather risk plan to mitigate such risk? This includes regulating traffic and “prepping” infrastructure to receive snowfall with adequate weather warning systems in place. My heart breaks for the families who have lost their loved ones needlessly.”
https://twitter.com/ArmeenaRK/status/1479768777617203206
Murree 💔
— MEESHA SHAFI (@itsmeeshashafi) January 8, 2022
Heartbreaking… #Murree 💔
— Mahira Khan (@TheMahiraKhan) January 8, 2022
Gut-wrenching what happened at #Muree. Govt must fix responsibility of the erring departments who were ill-prepared to deal with such a grave situation.
— Adnan Siddiqui (@adnanactor) January 8, 2022
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed confirmed 22 causalities – 10 men, 10 children and two women — in the heart-wrenching incident in Murree, one of the most popular tourist sites, 64 km (40 miles) northeast of the capital Islamabad.
Experts believe that most the snow-tourists died of hypothermia and others died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had predicted heavy snowfall in Murree and the Galiyat regions from January 6 to 9. The tragic incident happened despite several alerts and warnings by the Met Office.
Opposition leaders lashed out at the government for failing to monitor the huge influx of tourists and inadequate arrangements while officials blamed people as they failed to consider the weather forecasts.
Prime Minister Imran Khan also appeared to be putting blame on tourists for negligence.
“Unprecedented snowfall & rush of ppl proceeding without checking weather conditions caught district admin unprepared,” Khan said on Twitter, adding that he had ordered an inquiry into the incident.
