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

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By ZARAR KHAN

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Temperatures fell to minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 Fahrenheit) amid heavy snowfall at Pakistan’s mountain resort town of Murree overnight, killing at least 22 people who were stuck in their vehicles, officials said Saturday.

Atiq Ahmed, an Islamabad police officer, said eight of the 22 fatalities were from the family of fellow police officer Naveed Iqbal, who also died. Most of the victims died of hypothermia, officials said.

Rescue services physician Abdur Rehman said that after evacuating all of the stranded tourists from their cars, the death toll stood at 22, including 10 men, 10 children and two women.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said thousands of vehicles had been pulled from the snow but more than a thousand were still stuck in the area Saturday.



In this photo provided by the Inter Services Public Relations, army troops take part in rescue operation in a heavy snowfall-hit area in Murree, some 28 miles (45 kilometers) north of the capital of Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022. Temperatures fell to minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 Fahrenheit) amid heavy snowfall at Pakistan's mountain resort town of Murree overnight, killing multiple people who were stuck in their vehicles, officials said Saturday. (Inter Services Public Relations via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-travel-pakistan-sheikh-rashid-islamabad-45f896f11c99e984ea4e178467826a27

[SharonAnn]

1. OMG, thousands of cars pulled out and thousands still remain.

[EastMeetsWest]

5. I can't imagine such a situation

I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone.

[RussBLib]

2. geez

at least no one died on I-95 or in Western Kentucky recently.

Don't forget your survival kit!

[FailureToCommunicate]

4. Actually, one unlucky soul did die in Westchester, when they got out of their car for...

some reason. Hundreds of cars damaged, in multiple locations due to black ice.

Same weather system.

I can't imagine THOUSANDS of cars stranded on mountain roads like this report describes.

Awful.

[Mysterian]

3. Don't travel anywhere in winter conditions

without a quality sleeping bag for every person. They can stuff easily under a seat or those other spaces where nothing else will fit.