Inflation, unorganised distribution of free flour blamed for stampede in Pakistan

Karachi [Pakistan], April 2 : There have been multiple stampede incidents across Pakistan due to the unorgsed distribution of free flour which led to the death of various inflation-hit people, who gathered to collect food, according to the Dawn.

A large number of inflation-hit people gathered at a factory to collect flour but due to the stampede, most of them, in the end, reached the mortuary.

Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed at the mortuary of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital on Friday as the bodies of those who had been killed in the stampede in a SITE factory were lying over stretchers and their relatives were mourning their death.

At the mortuary, a foul and sickening smell of death was overpowering. The people were putting the bodies of their loved ones in ambulances and taking them home for funerals, reported Dawn.

It is so sad that the inflation and ill distribution of free flour caused the deaths of various people.

Perspiring profusely due to nervousness, he said that it was because of skyrocketing inflation in the country that she had gone there to collect free flour.

On Friday, in Karachi, at least 12 people have been killed, including 9 women in the stampede on Friday during a ration distribution drive in a factory, Geo News reported.

According to rescue officials and police authorities in the region, three children were killed as well.

Also, six people passed out during the stampede, rescuers informed Geo News. Police officers said that a sizable crowd had gathered at the location while the ration was being handed.

According to rescue officials, they also received reports of a fire caused by a petrol leak at the factory. They also discovered water in the narrow streets, which appears to indicate that factory workers attempted to put out the fire.

After the incident, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Friday night announced Rs500,000 compensation for the legal heirs of each deceased of the SITE stampede, reported Dawn.

He also announced Rs 100,000 for each injured person.

The CM directed the chief secretary to get details about the deceased and injured immediately for the distribution of compensation among them.

Meanwhile, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the factory management did not inform the police or district administration about the distribution of charity, according to Dawn.