Hundreds of vehicles, tourists stranded in AJK, Galiyat

Ag APP

ABBOTTABAD/AZAD KASHMIR: A spell of heavy snowfall and rain paralysed parts of Azad Kashmir and the Galiyat area of Abbottabad, with the roads connecting four districts of Azad Kashmir with Islamabad also blocked.

Stranded tourists, including women and children, appealed to the authorities to provide urgent rescue service. According to the Met Office, heavy snowfall in the mountainous areas of Hazara Division brought the temperature below zero and blocked the main Murree Road and

all other connecting roads in Galiyat.

Thandiyani, Nathiagali, and Ayubia received more than three feet snow during the continuous spell where a large number of tourists were also trapped. Abbottabad city and surrounding hills also received four inches snow.

Soon after the snowfall and heavy rain in Abbottabad city, pressure of gas decreased and people were burning wood for cooking purpose. Circle Galiyat and Circle Bakot have been disconnected from rest of the district Abbottabad, as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Highways Department, Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) and C&W failed to clear the Murree road.

According to GDA officials, the heavy machinery would start road cleaning operation as the snowfall stops in Galiyat.