22 die in heavy snow at Pakistan tourist site

ISLAMABAD－At least 22 people, including 10 children, died in a popular mountain resort town in Pakistan after being stuck in their vehicles overnight during a heavy snowstorm as temperatures plummeted, officials said on Saturday.

Most of the victims died of hypothermia, officials said. Among them was an Islamabad police officer and seven other members of his family, fellow police officer Atiq Ahmed said.

More than one meter of snow fell in the area of the Murree Hills resort through Friday night and early Saturday, trapping thousands of cars on roadways, said Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. The snow was so severe that heavy equipment brought in to clear it initially got stuck during the night, said Umar Maqbool, assistant commissioner for the town of Murree. Temperatures fell to minus 8 C.

Officials called in paramilitary troops and a special military mountain unit to help. By late Saturday more than 1,000 were still stuck, Ahmed said.

Most roads leading to the area's resorts were largely cleared of snow by late Saturday, and soldiers were working to clear the rest, Maqbool said. The military also converted army-run schools into relief camps where they provided shelter and food for the tourists who had been rescued.

Emergency officials distributed food and blankets to people while they were trapped in their snowed-in vehicles, but many died of hypothermia. Others may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning after running their car heaters for long periods, said Abdur Rehman, a rescue services doctor. By late Saturday those dead were 10 men, 10 children and two women, Rehman said.

Agencies via Xinhua