Deadly stampede for food aid kills 12 in southern Pakistan as economic crisis bites
- Hundreds of people panicked and started pushing each other to collect food outside a factory in Karachi, and some fell into a nearby drain, officials said
- Thousands have gathered at flour distribution centres across the country as part of efforts to ease the impact of inflation, which is above 30 per cent
Pakistani police on Saturday arrested eight people in the southern port city of Karachi after a stampede killed 12 people at a Ramadan food and cash distribution point a day earlier.
An initial report from the police says nine women, aged between 40 and 80, and three children, aged between 10 and 15, died in the crush.
Police said the eight arrests include the factory manager, who did not tell local authorities about the Ramadan alms giving.
The stampede happened when hundreds of people panicked and started pushing each other to collect food outside a factory. Some of them fell into a nearby drain, local police official Mughees Hashmi said.
It is the deadliest stampede at Ramadan food distribution points since the start of the Islamic holy month of fasting. With the latest incident, the death toll from stampedes at free food centres across the country has risen to at least 19 since last week.
Thousands of people have gathered at flour distribution centres set up across the country as part of the government’s efforts to ease the impact of inflation, which is running above 30 per cent, a 50-year high.