Sad news coming out of Karachi states that up to 20 people, mostly women and children died in a stampede in narrow lanes of Khori Garden area. A local businessman was distributing free wheat flour among the poor and needy of the society.
Due to overcrowding of narrow lanes, a stampede occured and the result was up to 20 deaths of women and children that were all preventable. I also want to add a line that I saw from author MB at Karachi Metroblogs: “This is humiliation to Humanity coming at its best” (read as “worst”). Very sad. Since Pakistan’s independence I’ve not heard of so many people losing their lives while trying to get food.
The dawn News update right now gives details as follows:
‘We have so far received 20 bodies of women and girls while the injured are more than 30,’ Amin Khan, an official at Civil Hospital Karachi, told AFP.
City police chief Wasim Ahmed said at least 18 women and children died in the stampede with dozens of others injured.
‘The deaths were caused by suffocation and the stampede in one of the most congested localities of Khori Garden, where a charity was distributing free flour among hundreds of women and children during Ramadan,’ he added.
Women clad in black burkas sobbed and wailed as ambulances screeched through the streets, ferrying the bodies and injured to hospital, where panicked relatives searched for their loved ones and dead bodies lay covered in sheets.
‘I have lost my little daughter,’ cried Karima in hospital. ‘I wanted a bag of flour for my family and my greed punished me so gravely,’ she sobbed.
A private security guard responsible for making sure the women formed an orderly queue baton charged the women when they became impatient with the long wait, said police and witnesses.
‘The women got scared and tried to save themselves… which caused the stampede,’ said local police official Hashmat Ali.
Injured Salma Qadir said the women wanted to get their rations quickly but were beaten by a guard.
‘The women scared and tried to turn back, which scared others and resulted in a stampede,’ she told AFP.
Several dozen women’s shoes, sandals and slippers were left lying on the road outside the distribution place in Khori Garden, a warren of narrow lanes and side streets ill equipped for large crowds, an AFP reporter said.
‘Fortunately, my mother and sister have survived and I am searching for their shoes and scarves here,’ said teenager Mohammad Kashif.
Shops in the area closed as a sign of mourning after the tragedy as women and children wailed outside the crowded emergency ward of the Civil Hospital Karachi where bodies and the injured were transported.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered an immediate investigation into the incident and medical treatment for the injured in Karachi, a teeming city that is home to an estimated 14 million people.
Reference: Eyewitness Recounts at Dawn.com
Title Photo of this post is from Dawn.com
So sorry to hear about poor people loosing their lives for a bag of flour. Very sad indeed.
For this very reason Norman Borlaug introduced GM crop. I know the current situation in Pakistan is not only shortage of food but hoarding and profiteering as well. But if we look at the bigger picture, our reluctance to GM crop and introduction of ethanol on bigger scale will result in shortage of food.
Wide scale use of solar and wind technology will help reduce our dependence on oil, coal and forest. We need another Norman Borlaug of solar and wind technology.
Very sad Very sad
Poor women already have no respect and now they are being pushed around.
I saw on Geo the stairs were really narrow where they all fell on eachother and small children.
Someone must have pushed them, Jerk offs!
I guess you dont think of safety in empty stomach.
Oh god help us!
Asthaghfurrullah il Azeem
Siasat,
I don’t doubt the motive of philanthropist and I totally believe that he was trying to do noble thing by distributing food among the needy.
However, I’ve read in ‘dawn’ that stampede started after the ‘private’ security guard hired by the philnthopist started ‘lathi charge’ on women in the narrow and congested lanes of Khori Garden.
Now crowd control also becomes necessary if people go unruly (Qn: can a private guard carry out lathi charge?) but for that crowd needs to be in an open area or need to have an emergency or escape route. lathi charge in congested areas will definitely result in panic and in today’s case even stampede and unnecessary loss of life.
Once again i don’t have complete details. I am just going by news reports.
I agree with your second paragraph that action should also be taken against ‘zakheera-andoz’ sugar mill and flour mill owners
Owais,
You are right that the person should not have done this in this manner but firstly, he has been doing this for years so the area police who makes round of the area should have known about it and i f that must have seen a large crowd, they could have taken over the safety of the people rightaway.
Only in Pakistan, when a philanthriopist is arrested but the big owners of sugar mills and fluor mills are free. They should be the prime suspects in all this mess.
Some comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “wht the hell is happen in karachi :(”
– “becharay Pakistani marnay kay leeaye rah gaye hain!”
– “hmmm its a Shameful event for us… Specially for Our Govt: Remember the Voice of PPPP. Mang raha hai her insan”ROTI, KAPRA or Makan””
– “ZULM ha yeh…….. BHiKARI BANA DIA HA PORE PAKISTAN KO….. brutal,corrupt traitor government of pakistan ….”
– “the sad part is that it was some private organization/individual trying to help. poor planning”
– “Such a shame… and they call PAKISTAN an agricultural country… ALLAH ka zara bhe darr nahe kisi ko …. tsk tsk … akhirat walay din ALLAH ko kya muu dikhayengey yeh sub… Ya ALLAH reham KER!”
– “government ne jo kiya so kiya humein apni zimedarian bhi yaad rakhni chahiye.Jeisey qaum , weisey hukmaran.very true.any objection”
– “Na yeh allah ko munh dikhana chahtay hain na allah in ka munh dekhna chahta hai…..so inhain koi fikr naheen.”
– “This is incredibly sad”
– “really sad…”
– “very sad news…especially regarding food”
– “hum to sirf agli khabar ka intizar karte hen ,or hamesha ki tarha har agli khabar bhi kuch aesi hi hoti he,or phir hum us par afsos karte hen,THats it? kiya yehi hen nation ka matlab?
HUM KION UNITED nahi hote hum kion koi action nahi lete govt k khilaf,in chor zalimon k khilaf,
YA ALLAH tu hi hamari mulk ki halt par raham karde,shayad hume bedar hone men abhi waqt lage ga.”
– “Roti kapra aur makaan
nahi tumhara pakistan
Ya hamray Siasatdaan
khain bhar ka pakwaan
line laga kar tum maro
awam ka lia Qabrustaan”
– “this news make me wept”
– “really sad, we are ashamed really.”
– “worst form of exploitation at the hands of those who r “alive””
– “govt should be held responsible coz it’s their duty to provide basic necessities of life to people who voted for these corrupt politicians…i hate these corrupt politicians”
– “very sad news:( peple lost their loved ones just before Eid.”
– “Money is Continuously Directly sent to Our Politicians accounts. If they use Govt: Money honestly never be happened that Incident again.. if they don’t take a proper step.. it will happened again and again… No one can take action for this incident because Every powerful person is hired by the Government. Corruption spreads Everywhere…”
– “how do ppl like this ..? the doors of janat have been opened for them..may they rest in peace..ameen”
– “.Act as a nation.”
– “stampede national character of a nation advised faith unity and discipline at the very conception by its founder”