The provincial government in Pakistan’s Punjab declared a state of emergency in the hill station of Murree Saturday after the death of at least 21 people, including nine children, stranded in cars amid a traffic congestion in the tourist destination.
The traffic congestion was reportedly precipitated by heavy snowfall, described as unprecedented in intensity, and a massive influx of tourists in Murree that is said to be only equipped to handle around 4,000 vehicles.
The exact cause of the tourists’ deaths is yet to be determined. While some media reports claimed they froze to death, the station house officer for the Murree police station, Raja Rasheed, was quoted by Geo News as saying that the tourists “died as they left their heaters on in the car and went to sleep”.
“The fumes from the heater killed them,” he added.
Top infectious disease expert Faheem Younus wondered on Twitter if the deaths were “due to cold or carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning” from blocked exhausts of the vehicles.
