Hotel owners blame local administration for Murree tragedy

ISLAMABAD: Hotel Association Murree General Secretary Raja Yasir Riasat Abbasi on Tuesday blamed the local administration for the Murree incident in which at least 23 people were killed.

Expressing remorse over the incident, while addressing media at the National Press Club in Islamabad, Yasir Abbasi claimed that entrance was made free into Murree hotels after half an hour of declaring of Murree as a “disaster area” by the interior minister.

Murree Citizen Forum leader Nadeem Ikhlas and other members of the hotel association were also present during the presser.

The Hotel Association Murree general secretary, who is also a Pakistan Muslim League-N leader, claimed that the hotels in Murree had made accommodation and food free for the stranded tourists. He said media highlighted the incident after the local residents apprised the administration.

He claimed that no rescue operation could be started despite the passage of 18-20 hours of the blizzard. He said the administration did not have diesel to run their machinery.

“The government claimed that 0.1 million vehicles entered Murree, which is wrong. Within three to four days, 0.3-0.4 million vehicles entered the hilly town,” he asserted.

Yasir Abbasi refuted the claims that a glass of water was sold for Rs200 and a boiled egg for Rs500. He said if anybody had its proof then they must share it with him so that action could be taken. He said the local residents brought tourists to their houses, when traffic was blocked from Kuldana to Darya Gali.