Syed Raza Hassan

KARACHI (Reuters) – 16 people died from freezing temperatures in Pakistan after getting stuck in vehicles while driving in the northern part of Pakistan. This is where many tourists had flocked to experience the snow. Officials said that this was Saturday’s incident.

There are still around 1,000 cars stranded. The government declared Murree (64 km/40 miles northeast of Islamabad) a disaster area.

“For the first time in 15 to 20 years such large number of tourists flocked to Murree, which created a big crisis,” Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Pakistan’s interior minister said a video message.

Minister said around 1000 cars had been stuck at the hill station. This town is located in the hills above the surrounding area. He also confirmed that 16 to 19 people have died in these cars.

He said that paramilitary and army forces were deployed in support of civil administration rescue operations.

To stop further tourist influx, the government closed all roads to the station late Friday night.

Premier Imran Khan was shocked by the deaths of tourists. Khan tweeted that he had ordered an inquiry into the matter and put in place strict regulations to prevent such tragedies.

Fawad Chaudhry (information minister) appealed to the public not to visit the hill stations.

On Tuesday night snow began to fall and it continued every day. This attracted thousands of tourists. Many families were left stranded due to the large number of tourists.

Local media reports that more than 100,000 vehicles had entered the hill station.

Video sharing on social media revealed entire families with children, all lying dead inside their snowcovered cars.

“Were the deaths caused by cold or carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning?,” Dr. Faheem Yonus, chief of infectious diseases at the University of Maryland UCH, said in a tweet. The odorless and lethal CO can be emitted from an engine that is running while it is being towed in snow. If the exhaust pipe (or silencer) is blocked, this could quickly cause death to the passenger.

Officials are not able to provide any information about the cause of the deaths.