Raja Yasir Riasat Abbasi, General Secretary of the Hotel Association of Murree, accused the local authority of being responsible for the Murree incident, which resulted in the deaths of at least 23 individuals.
Yasir Abbasi, when addressing the media at the National Press Club in Islamabad, expressed regret for the incident and claimed that free entry into Murree hotels had been granted after half an hour of the interior minister designating Murree a “disaster region.”
In addition to Nadeem Ikhlas, Chairman of the Murree Citizen Forum, other representatives of the hotel association were present during the news conference.
The general secretary of the Hotel Association of Murree, who is also a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, said that the hotels in Murree had provided free accommodation and food to the trapped tourists. He stated that the incident was brought to the attention of the media after the occurrence was reported by local residents to the administration.
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He asserted that no rescue action could be launched despite the passing of 18-20 hours during the snow, according to him. In his statement, he stated that the administration did not have enough diesel to run their gear.
“The administration asserted that 0.1 million automobiles entered Murree, but this is incorrect. According to him, “0.3-0.4 million automobiles invaded the hilly town in three to four days.”
Yasir Abbasi denied that a glass of water was sold for Rs200 and a boiled egg was sold for Rs500, as claimed by the media. He stated that if anyone had proof of its existence, they should share it with him so that action could be taken. As a result of the traffic congestion between Kuldana and Darya Gali, he claims that local homeowners hosted tourists in their homes.
