Army clears roads around snow-bound Pakistan town after deadly blizzard
Gulf Times
In this handout photograph released by Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) on January 8, 2022 shows army soldiers arrive to clear road covered with snow in Murree.
Army rescuers Sunday cleared routes around a Pakistan hill town sheltering thousands of tourists after 22 people died in vehicles trapped by heavy snow.
The resort town of Murree, around 70 kilometres (45 miles) northeast of Islamabad, was inundated with tourists and daytrippers last week after unusually heavy snow turned it into a winter wonderland.
But a blizzard from Friday onwards felled trees and blocked narrow roads leading in and out of the town, which clings to steep hills and valleys at an altitude of 2,300 metres (7,500 feet).
"It was not snow, and not even heavy snow, it was unprecedented... with four to five feet in few hours," Tariq Ullah, an administrative official in nearby Nathia Gali, told AFP Sunday.
