ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif has directed the relevant authorities for speedy evacuation of the tourists trapped or stranded in Naran because of heavy snowfall.
According to a government spokesman, the PM was personally overseeing the situation. He has asked the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and all the relevant federal departments to coordinate with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for evacuation of the stranded tourists.
The NDMA would start the evacuation operation as severe weather subsides. The authority has arranged four helicopters to airlift the stranded tourists.
The National Highway Authority has already started work on removing snow from the roads. A contingent of army including doctors has reached Naran to help the trapped tourists.
According to ISPR, fifty tourists stranded at Bharvai road in Naran have been evacuated. While, Frontier Works Organization personnel are carrying out relief efforts at Bata Kundi road.
Rescue efforts are underway in Naran for the safe evacuation of tourists who have been stranded due to heavy snowfall in the area.
According to reports, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority has restored traffic at six different points in Naran. Personnel of Pakistan Army are also engaged in rescue efforts. Heavy machinery is being used in the area to remove the snow from roads. Foreign tourists have been shifted to safer places.
Meanwhile, heavy snowfall is continuing in Kaghan and Naran area. Naran-Balakot road has been opened for traffic this morning.
A spokesman of PDMA Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa told our Peshawar representative that one hundred vehicles trapped in the area have been rescued.
The road was opened at six different points in Naran and Tourists are now leaving for their hometowns. Meanwhile, the administration of Battagram district has rejected media reports saying that Karakoram Highway has been blocked for traffic at Battagram.
