On 7 January 2022, a snowstorm occurred in Murree, Rawalpindi District, Punjab, Pakistan dropping more than 4 feet (1.2 m) of snow, killing 23 domestic tourists who had visited to see the thick snow. Many died as temperatures fell to around negative 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 F).
Background
A day before the incident, hundreds of thousands of people from other parts of Pakistan had driven to the high-altitude town of Murree in Rawalpindi District, Punjab, Pakistan, to see the snowfall. Several vehicles became stuck on the roads due to the snowfall and thousands of tourists spent the night on the roads.Snowfall began on Tuesday night and continued intermittently throughout the week, attracting many
tourists. Murree is a popular destination for Pakistani tourists whenever it sees snow.
The Met Office had issued an alert on 5 January warning that heavy snowfall could potentially cause road closures in the area from 6-9 January. Soon after that, the Murree tehsil administration issued a travel advisory, urging tourists to check weather and traffic updates before coming. Since Murree is just a tehsil within the broader Rawalpindi district, the district administration itself did not hold a meeting to discuss the issue, although Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ali said on social media that an increased number of traffic wardens were deployed.The National Disaster Management Authority also did not call for a meeting with district officials to prepare for the increased traffic.
Tourists complained that hotels had driven up prices to capitalise on the massive influx of tourists, prompting many people to sleep in their cars.Rooms that normally cost Rs.6,000-10,000 per night were being rented for Rs.70,000 per night, while food prices were also marked up high. Prices for an average of Rs.40 for a cup of tea skyrocketed to Rs. 700.This led to the hashtag #BoycottMurree trending on Twitter on Sunday.
Storm
On Friday, 7 January, a blizzard on Friday dumped four feet of snow on Murree. On the night between 7 January and 8 January, over 157,000 vehicles entered Murree as the snowfall began.
Cars were packed bumper-to-bumper on the roads surrounding Murree. All routes into and out of Murree were effectively blocked, leaving the tourists stranded.When it began to snow heavily, a lot of people left their cars on the roads to seek shelter in hotels, further contributing to the congestion. Negligence by local authorities may have also contributed to the congestion: in some areas, over 13,000 cars were allowed onto roads that were only designed to accommodate 4,000 at a time.
In some places, the heavy snowfall and strong winds caused trees to fall, blocking roads and in at least one case falling onto multiple vehicles.
At least 22 tourists died. The victims suffered from hypothermia while some may have died of carbon monoxide inhalation because their exhaust pipes were blocked by snow, which resulted in leakage of carbon monoxide into the cars, causing the deaths.
The victims included Islamabad police officer Naveed Iqbal, his sister, three nephews, and three of his own children; a couple from Rawalpindi with two sons and two daughters; and four friends from Mardan.Funerals were held for the victims on Sunday in their respective hometowns.
On Saturday, the death toll reached 23; a four-year-old girl died at Jhika Gali, apparently of hypothermia and pneumonia.
The snowstorm also caused problems for local residents: water pipes were damaged due to freezing, making drinking water inaccessible in most places.Hotels also started to run out of food and cell phone service was "patchy".Gas cylinders also started to run out.
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