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22 freeze to death after unprecedented snowstorm traps thousands of cars in Murree, Pakistan

ByTeo Blašković
pakistan-murree-snow-trapped-vehicles-january-2022

Image credit:  Tehseen Qasim

At least 22 people, including 9 children, have died of hypothermia overnight Saturday, January 8, 2022, after heavy snow trapped thousands of vehicles in Pakistan's mountain resort of Murree. The resort, located about 45 km (28 miles) N of the capital Islamabad, recorded more than 1.2 m (4 feet) of fresh snow overnight. More than 23 000 cars were evacuated from the area on Friday.

According to Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, around 1 000 cars were still stuck on the mountain roads on Saturday after tourists flocked to the hill station in large numbers for the first time in 15 to 20 years, creating a big crisis.

Ahmed added that administrations of both Rawalpindi and Islamabad, along with police, had been working to rescue stranded people, along with five platoons of the Pakistan Army, as well as Rangers and Frontier Corps.1

According to a list issued by Rescue 1122, at least 21 people have been found dead, including 9 children.

Officials hope to rescue all stranded people by nightfall.

"God willing, we will rescue 1 000 cars by evening today. We have decided to stop people on foot as well. It is no time for tourists to visit," Dawn said.

More than 23 000 cars were evacuated from the area the night before.

Heavy snowfall is expected to continue through January 9.

"It was not snow, and not even heavy snow, it was unprecedented… with 1.2 to 1.5 m (4 – 5 feet) in few hours," Tariq Ullah, an administrative official in nearby Nathia Gali, told AFP.

"I never saw such a huge snowstorm in my life. There were strong winds, uprooted trees, avalanches. People around were terrified, each having his or her own account of suffering."2

References:

1 Murree declared calamity hit after at least 21 freeze to death in cars stranded in snow – Dawn

2 Major roads cleared in Murree as rescue operation continues – AFP

Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.

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3 Comments

  1. It’s no surprise people were caught off guard – for the last twenty years we have been warned that the Earth won’t experience region-affecting amounts of snow by 2020, and possibly by 2022 we won’t see snow at all except in the highest of places. The Earth is experiencing a return from a time before the snowfall famine! What a time to be alive!

    Reporting from Washington State, where some areas around 3,000 feet above the sea are still being pounded with snow, an upwards of over 5 feet in some areas.

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