An official reported that at least 200 tourists, including women and children, were successfully evacuated on Thursday evening from a high-altitude resort outside the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) capital after being caught there in the snow.
Since the Met office had predicted rain and snow on Thursday, hundreds of people had hurried to the 9,300-foot-high Pir Chinasi resort to taking advantage of the first snowfall of the season, divisional commissioner Masood-ur-Rehman said in an interview with Dawn. The majority of them, however, were unable to return to Muzaffarabad over the snow-covered road when the blizzard intensified, and as a result, they became stuck up there, he said.
The commissioner reported that rescue teams were dispatched to the region in 4×4 vehicles to transport the stranded travelers to safety after several local tourists informed Muzaffarabad-based media workers and police about the situation. Pir Chinasi, which is 34 kilometers away and can be reached in less than an hour by car, is accessible from Muzaffarabad. In the first phase of the rescue mission, according to Mr. Rehman, the crews transported the stranded tourists in their 4×4 cars to a state-run guesthouse in Sarran, which is located at an altitude of 7,540 feet and approximately five kilometers away from Pir Chinasi. Then, he stated, all of them were brought from Sarran to Muzaffarabad.
The commissioner stated that 30 drivers had been given safe lodging in the Sarran rest house for the night so they could return to Pir Chinasi and drive their stranded vehicles on Friday when the weather is expected to be clear.
Although Mr. Rehman claimed that other high-altitude places had also experienced considerable snowfall, no other location had made a similar complaint.
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