Cold kills 22 stuck in cars in heavy snow at Pakistan resort

ISLAMABAD — Temperatures fell to minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 Fahrenheit) amid dense snowfall astatine Pakistan’s upland edifice municipality of Murree overnight, sidesplitting astatine slightest 22 radical who were stuck successful their vehicles, officials said Saturday.

Atiq Ahmed, an Islamabad constabulary officer, said 8 of the 22 fatalities were from the household of chap constabulary serviceman Naveed Iqbal, who besides died. Most of the victims died of hypothermia, officials said.

Rescue services doc Abdur Rehman said that aft evacuating each of the stranded tourists from their cars, the decease toll stood astatine 22, including 10 men, 10 children and 2 women.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said thousands of vehicles had been pulled from the snowfall but much than a 1000 were inactive stuck successful the country Saturday.

Located 28 miles (45.5 kilometers) northbound of the superior of Islamabad, Murree is simply a fashionable wintertime edifice that attracts good implicit a cardinal tourists annually. Streets starring into the metropolis are often blocked by snowfall successful winter.

Ahmed, the interior minister, said much than 4 feet (1.2 meters) of snowfall fell successful the country overnight and each incoming postulation was blocked Saturday. The curate said paramilitary troops and a peculiar subject upland portion had been called successful to help.

“Until past nary conveyance oregon adjacent radical connected ft are allowed to participate Murree but for the exigency and rescue vehicles and those bringing nutrient for the stuck people,” helium said.

Umar Maqbool, a section administrator, said the dense snowfall hampered rescue efforts during the nighttime and adjacent dense instrumentality brought successful to wide the snowfall got stuck initially.

Officials gave nary further details astir those who died successful their snowed-in vehicles but said they were moving connected some betterment and rescue operations. Maqbool said nutrient and blankets were distributed to the stuck tourists during the night.

Most streets starring to the area’s resorts were mostly cleared of snowfall aboriginal Saturday but immoderate enactment was inactive being done, Maqbool said. Military troops and machines were moving to wide each the streets and the subject established alleviation camps astatine service tally schools that provided structure and food.

Associated Press writer Asim Tanveer successful Islamabad contributed to this report.