A Brazilian citizen fell and died while paragliding in the Shigar district of Gilgit Baltistan on Thursday.
Shigar DC Waliullah Falahi told Dawn that the tourist, identified as Raineri Rodrigo Chaddad, started the adventure from a mountain in Askoli Shigar. Raineri didn’t have a permit for the activity, and he died on the spot after the fall.
DC asserted that action will be taken against the managing director of the victim’s tour operator who allowed him to take part in the activity without the requisite permit. An autopsy will be carried out shortly.
While Pakistan’s dangerous adventure sports are generally considered safe, the weather can turn quite fast. Three Japanese climbers have been declared dead in less than a month while descending one of the highest mountains in northern Pakistan.
A Portuguese tourist, on a tour of 50 countries, has died on Thursday in a road accident in Chaghai district in Balochistan, Dawn has confirmed.
Nuno Miguel Vilao Castanheria, 28, crossed into Pakistan from Iran on Wednesday evening on his motorcycle, and was on his way to Quetta when his motorbike collided with a pick up truck near Dalbandin town. At the time, he was accompanied by two German tourists, Tony Pankraz Linder and Nikolas Lang, both of whom were also travelling on their bikes, and Levies personnel.
Castanheria died on the spot, Chagai Deputy Commissioner Hassan Jan Baloch has confirmed.
The driver of the pick up truck and his helper were arrested by Levies.
The Foreign Office has been informed of the death while the body has been sent to Quetta so that it can be shifted to Islamabad and handed over to Portugal’s embassy.
The Portuguese man started his tour on May 21. He was scheduled to travel through Pakistan’s northern areas before crossing over into India from Wagah border, Dawn has said.
Before the commencement of the winter tourism season in Murree and nearby galiyaat in the coming month, a comprehensive tourist programme has been approved to guarantee the safety of visiting families, reports Express Tribune.
Under the programme, arrangements have been made for security, checking of vehicles and 24-hour clearing of snow in the district where standard “Tourism Services Rules” will also be regulated.
During the snowy season, traffic police will not permit more than the designated number of vehicles to enter Murree and beyond, 17 miles of the Toll Plaza, no vehicle will be permitted to enter the district regardless of the number that the district administration and traffic police officers may decide.
There are 215 small and large hotels in Murree overall, according to the report of the Rawalpindi deputy commissioner, and over 150 locals rent out their homes and common places. According to the tourism standard policy, there are a total of 24,239 tourist rooms available in hotels and guesthouses in Murree.
Additionally, a uniformed civil defence force will be stationed in Murree to safeguard visitors from confrontations throughout the winter months.
The local youth-led civil defence team will also be equipped with walkie-talkies and batons. The members of this force will be spread out in the city’s major markets in various shifts. 15 volunteers from civil defence will make up the force.
A total of 50 more traffic wardens will be dispatched to Murree to manage the city’s traffic for the entire season. Rent for both heated and non heated hotel rooms will be pre-set. The additional deputy commissioner for Murree will keep an eye on hotel rents during the peak season.
Food prices will be fixed in markets, and there will be distinct prices for each sort of entertainment. These prices and fees will be prominently displayed on banners with large prints.
The installation of a price list will be required at all venues for entertainment, including lodging and food stands.
Earlier this year in January, a traffic jam in Murree turned deadly after 23 people, including children, were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning as they waited in their cars with engines running.
A 74-year-old man was murdered in an alleged incident of robbery near Naran. The incident took place on July 24. A group of four people were staying in a camp near Saral Pass, which is a few kilometres away from Noori Top.
A Facebook user named Faizan Sami posted about the incident in a group, The Karakoram Club.
“I Faizan Sami, Asfandyar, Mudassir and uncle ( father in law of Mudassir) left for Ratti Gali from basil trek via saral pass,” the user wrote in a Facebook post.
“Reached Saral pass about 6.30 pm on Sunday 24th of July 2022. we unpacked and set our camp over there. We had four local porters with horses. After dinner and relaxing we off to bed. We were sleeping in our tent at about 11.20 o clock and heard voices coming out. My uncle sat and asked them who it hearing this they start firing. uncle got shot we all started screaming. And came out they beat us with our hiking sticks. We were made to stand in a row outside,” added Faizan while narrating the horrific incident.
“They asked for money and other stuff. we told them it was in the bags two of them went inside the tent while one was guarding us. When they saw the dead body one of them came out and told the other one they all started moving towards the tent. We slowly moved towards the downside and then started running. And hid in stones, after 15 minutes one of our porters come shouting our names. We then showed up and the porter told us that they too were looted. We then went to the tent they took all the bags one bag with money and the drone camera was under my jacket so it was left. They took almost 70,000. We covered the dead body in a tent, packed it well and went outside in search of help. After 3 hours of trekking, we reached a village on Noori’s top side. Anar Gul named person helped us a lot. He sends men along with one porter to bring dead bodies. we stayed there till morning. He sends men after the police and jeep.”
Talking to The Current, Faizan Sami said they heard noises around 11:15pm. His uncle shouted from the camp and asked, “Who are you?”
After hearing the noise, the robbers resorted to aerial fire which resulted in the death of the 74-year-old man named Raja Muhammad Azam.
The robbers made them sit 50 feet away from the camp. They asked them how many people were in the camp, and were told that they were a group of four people. Two of the robbers then went inside the camp to look for the fourth person and money.
“When they went inside the camp, they panicked after looking at the dead body and they called their fellow robber inside the camp,” Faizan told The Current.
After all of the robbers went inside, they took the opportunity to run away and they went “300 to 400 feet” away from the place to hide from them.
When they came back after a while after the robbers had left, they saw the dead body lying there. They left the dead body behind and went to ask for help to bring the dead body to a nearby village.
The FIR, a copy of which is available with The Current, was filed on July 25 in Naran. The police are still investigating the case.
YouTube vlogger from Scotland, Dale Philip, recently visited Karachi’s Seaview beach. As per Philip, he was ‘cheated’ by horsemen there. Darakhshan police detained the horseman, and a picture of one of the horsemen was shared by Philip on his Twitter.
“He tried to earn a living by cheating people, but now he’s living behind metal bars thanks to Karachi Police. Hopefully, he learns there’s no need to cheat foreign tourists. Most will give extra payment if they were shown a good experience and treated in an honest way,” he wrote while sharing the picture.
He tried to earn a living by cheating people, but now he’s living behind metal bars thanks to Karachi Police.
Hopefully he learns there’s no need to cheat foreign tourists. Most will give extra payment if they were shown a good experience and treated in an honest way. pic.twitter.com/HwdHmGpWqD
#Arrest | Karachi Police has arrested three horsemen within 3 hour, after a video gone viral on social media. They misbehaved with a tourist Dale Philip at sea view. Arrested accused persons apologizes from the Tourist for his behaviour.@DMCSindhPolice@Daleroxxupic.twitter.com/9BxJGvaT8n
Philip made a YouTube vlog on how he was “scammed”. The summary of the scam, as per Philip, was that the horsemen asked him to pay Rs 5,000 for a ride after agreeing to the ride for only Rs 200.
“It was very quiet, with it being a Friday. As soon as I entered the beach, two guys on horses sprinted towards me. I had planned on taking a horse or camel ride at some point so I negotiated a price of 200 rupees with one of them for a ride to the Chunky Monkey amusement park. He didn’t take me to Chunky Monkey, though. He took me down to the water and then handed me off to another guy on a horse. I felt like I was getting scammed in some way. Maybe they were going to ask for double the money because the second guy was taking me for a second ride or something. He was taking me towards Chunky Monkey, which is where I wanted to go though. As I rode with this guy, I tried to reconfirm the price with him, so there would be no disputes afterwards. He made it clear that 200 was for, what he called ‘one ride’, and that I’d have to pay for multiple rides. I immediately asked him to stop and said I’d walk the remaining distance but he refused to stop. Not only would he not let me get off the horse but did a u-turn and took me back to where I started the ride. I was screaming at him telling him that was not the way I wanted to go but he made the excuse that if he takes the horse back himself without a rider that the two horses would fight. After finally getting off the horse, the two scammers asked me for Rs5,000. As if I was just going to give them 25 times the price that we had agreed. How stupid did they think I was.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtyhnS13lGw
People on social media are not happy with Dale Philip’s tweet and video.
Dale Philip has 858K YouTube subscribers. Here he is celebrating the misery of a poor brown person who tried to ‘scam’ a few hundred rupees off him. The video of the ‘scam’ on YouTube has 450K+ views. Mr. Philip is blind to his own privilege & gets a kick out of class warfare. https://t.co/lH1YndQpRj
Punishing someone beyond the scope of law is in itself an offence. You should also be behind bars with him for violating his dignity guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973. And don’t get me started on history or cheating. Can be problematic. https://t.co/JFgUpXOAeJ
Do you have any ounce of shame and humanity left? If tourism means white people treating locals living below poverty line like this, we are better off. https://t.co/Xz9sdIofeC
Disgusting. You’re underpaying for everything, traveling cheaply and living large. Don’t go to third world countries as a rich foreigner if you don’t expect to pay higher prices and be occasionally swindled. Consider it a tax. https://t.co/zMnjsF6akD
The Government of Punjab has imposed emergency in Murree after at least 16 people died of the extreme cold, while in their cars, during the snowstorm.
However, as per some reports most people did not die of cold, but because of the fumes from their car heater.
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has directed officials to open the government’s offices and rest houses for the stranded tourists amid chaos and an emergency situation in Murree.
Army and Rangers have also been called in Murree for rescue operations.
•مری اور ملحقہ علاقوں میں تمام ریسٹ ہاؤسز اور سرکاری اداروں کو سیاحوں کیلئے کھول دیا گیا ہے •وزیر اعلی پنجاب سردار عثمان بزدار نے اپنا ہیلی کاپٹر بھی ریسکیو سرگرمیوں کے لئے دے دیا •موسم بہتر ہوتے ہی ہیلی کاپٹر امدادی سرگرمیوں میں حصہ لے گا
Moreover, the government has appealed to people to postpone their plan to visit Murree.
مری اور دیگر بالائ مقامات کیلئے ایک جم غفیر رواں دواں ہے لاکھوں گاڑیاں ان علاقوں کی طرف جارہی ہیں مقامی انتظامیہ کیلئے اتنی بڑی تعداد میں لوگوں کو سہولیات پہنچانا ناممکن بن گیا ہے، جو لوگ ابھی گھروں میں ہیں ان سے درخواست ہے بالائ علاقوں کی سیر کا پلان کچھ دنوں کیلئے موخٓر کر دیں
A statue of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah installed along Gawadar’s Marine Drive has blown up by the militants, BBC Urdu reported.
Talking to BBC Urdu, DPO Gawadar, Dr Farhan, said that the statue was blown into pieces on Sunday morning around 9:20 am in morning.
The outlawed Balochistan Republican Army has claimed the responsibility for the attack.
Gawadar Deputy Commissioner Major Retired Abdul Kabeer said militants who attacked the statue had posed as tourists to get access to the area.
He said an investigation is underway, though no arrests have been made so far.
The statue was fitted in a high-security zone near the residence of the General Officer Commanding (GOC) and the office of the Deputy Inspector General in June 2021.
DC Gawadar said militants had placed an improvised explosive device at the site. Some reports say that a hand grenade had been thrown at the statue.
Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan has strongly condemned the attack.
The chief minister said that terrorists would not be allowed to disrupt the peace of the province. He ordered the concerned authorities to instantly arrest the perpetrators of the attack.
Social media users condemned the act and questioned the security in Gawadar.
بلوچستان کے دل گوادر میں جدید طرز پر تعمیر کئے گئے ساحلی مقام میرین ڈرائیو پر نامعلوم شرپسند دہشتگردوں نے دستی بم سے حملہ کیا۔ حملے میں ایک مجسمہ کو اڑا دیا گیا ہے۔ دہشت گردی کا یہ واقعہ ہے گوادر سیکورٹی پر سوالیہ نشان ہے۔#Gawadar#MarineDrive#TerrorismiInBalochistanpic.twitter.com/iDz55REdTu
A tourist attraction in China now allows visitors a chance to walk or fly over a river.
The Xiatianxia Tourist Area is a popular tourist spot in Fujian Province where people can wear different traditional costumes and enjoy an experience walking and flying across a river.
A video shared by South China Morning Post shows people flying in the air over a river and attempting stunts often seen in movies.
In this kung fu world, visitors can turn their dreams into reality by flying across a river, dressed in traditional costumes. pic.twitter.com/SdU0Xam0sp
— South China Morning Post (@SCMPNews) July 5, 2021
As per details, tourists are lifted in the air using wires attached to their waists. They can either fly across the water, use prop weapons or even run on water. The wire is 600 meters long and 20 meters off the ground.
Nestlé in collaboration with KP Tourism Dept, World Bank and GDA launched the TREK communication campaign in Nathiagali to promote responsible tourism. It includes radio & geo-targeted social media awareness campaigns for tourists, installation of information boards.
Earlier in December 2020, Prime Minister Imran Khan had unveiled the logo for TREK, which is part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Integrated Tourism Development (KITE) project and has been listed amongst the federal government’s key achievements of 2020.
The launch event featured tree plantation, an awareness walk and the unveiling of awareness signages installed in various parts of the Galiyat district.
Highlighting Nestlé’s vision for a waste-free future, Samer Chedid, CEO Nestlé Pakistan said, “At Nestlé, our vision is that none of our packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill or rivers. To achieve this, we have set ourselves the commitment of ensuring 100% of our packaging is reusable or recyclable by 2025.”
“We are excited for this partnership on responsible tourism: we will be shaping a waste-free future by driving new behavior that contributes towards a cleaner environment.”
Meanwhile, Raza Ali Habib Director General, Galiyat Development Authority said, “GDA in collaboration with Nestle, KITE World Bank and Tourism Department is making all out efforts to promote responsible and sustainable tourism in Galiyat under the TREK initiative.”
“This includes massive fruit tree plantation drive, anti-littering campaign, distribution of reusable cotton bags and a nationwide awareness campaign,” he added.
Tauseef Khalid, Project Director, KITE said, “TREK is an initiative under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Integrated Tourism Development (KITE) project being implemented in partnership with the World Bank Group and Nestlé Pakistan.”
Tauseef highlighted that under TREK, the government was arranging provision of solid waste management equipment to keep the area waste-free as well as installing information boards.
“We are training local communities on waste minimization and collection, and facilitating tourist sites by providing restrooms under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Integrated Tourism Development program,” he said.
Kiran Afzal, Senior Private Sector Specialist, of the World Bank Group conveyed that the occasion marks an important phase of TREK’s implementation, and “we expect to see more contributions from the private sector towards responsible tourism.”
Nestlé Pakistan’s commitment to TREK includes 2 pillars: A Massive Awareness Campaign focusing on Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and a Community Engagement plan which includes activities that will help in countering the issues of waste, pollution and destruction of wildlife.
Participants at the event highlighted the government’s role in promoting tourism, planning better infrastructure for improving accessibility, rescue services and special zones for tourists in the region.
Presiding over a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on tourism in Islamabad, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan said that Pakistan is blessed with different climatic zones and numerous untapped tourist points. He said that the government is focused on eco-tourism to ensure environmental conservation while managing and looking after tourist spots.
According to details, PM Khan said that the government would provide all possible facilities for the development as well as the promotion of the tourism sector in the country. This initiative would not only generate revenue but also provide employment opportunities for the people of Pakistan.
Previously in his first televised address to the nation, soon after taking oath, PM Imran had said: “Pakistan has huge tourism potential. We will promote tourism to strengthen the economy.”
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) for Overseas Pakistanis Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari briefed the committee about the progress of the development of the tourism sector. He also informed that substantial work has been undertaken for the development of religious tourism.
It is pertinent to mention here that the World Tourism Forum 2021 will be held in Pakistan. According to Zulfi Bukhari, the forum will be a five-day event with over 1,000 foreign visitors expected to attend.
“The World Tourism Forum will have three days for conference and two days for tourism”, the SAPM had said.
Meanwhile, American business magazine Forbes has also listed Pakistan as one of the ten must-visit destinations for those who’re looking for something offbeat.
