Pakistani army soldiers take part in rescue works after tourists died amid heavy snowfall in Murree, Pakistan, on Saturday. Photo by Pakistan Inter Services Public Relations/EPA-EFE
A powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow across northern Pakistan into the weekend turned deadly when an estimated 1,000 cars became stranded in the snow.
Several local media reports say at least 20 people have died as a result of being trapped.
The unfortunate event took place in Murree, Pakistan, which is located about 25 miles to the north of Islamabad in the mountainous northern region of the country.
The city is a large tourist area, and according to reporting from The New International, as many as 125,000 cars entered the city during the snowstorm which led to severe traffic jams.
The city attracts tourists each winter as people flock to the region to see snow, according to India Today.
“Around 23,000 vehicles have been evacuated safely from Murree. Around 1,000 are still stranded,” according to Rawalpindi deputy commissioner.
A strong storm system brought heavy rain and snow across Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwest India late in the week and into the start of the weekend, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.
Observations from Murree show that about an inch of liquid fell in the city from Friday into Saturday.
“Assuming that the majority of this was snow, and using a simple conversion of 10 inches (25 cm) of snow for every inch of liquid, we can estimate that about 10 inches (25 cm) of snow fell,” according to AccuWeather meteorologist Tyler Roys.
The same storm brought slightly over 2 inches of rain to Islamabad.
“Given the mountainous terrain across the region and heavier precipitation in nearby Islamabad, it is likely even heavier snow fell in some areas, especially at higher elevations, that led to such significant travel troubles” added Roys.
“There can still be light rain and snow across the region through the rest of the weekend,” said Roys. “Though this is not expected to be heavy enough to bring a repeat of what was just seen.”
This event followed a similar event early in the past week when motorists became stranded on Interstate 95 in Virginia.