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
Owais,
According to the report, the philanthropist has been doing this regularly for more than 15 years.
The nation rose up against the Taliban and showed resolve.
As Ayaz Amir said, why cant we launch a massive movement against those large owners who are so powerful.
We did a lot of hue and cry on Lal Masjid girls in Swat and launched this movement against religious extremism, why can’t we do a similar campaign against these big cartels who are ruling the country. If we are conveniently singling them out because they are powerful and we cant do anything then shame on us.
If we were concerned about the religious extremism growing in our society, then we should also think about the looming famine is not just limited to one city from Peshawar to Karachi, it has taken over the whole country which was not the case in religious extremism.
More comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “What I find disgusting is how even in this tragedy some comments above are trying to make cheap political points even when this had nothin to do with givt but was a private person doing this. How low can we get when we use a human tragedy for scoring cheap political points!”
– “Ya Allah huma par Reham Farmaa….Ameeeen”
– “how sad.. somethings only Allah can fix.”
– “and the man who was distributing wheat has been arrested instead of arrestinga those bloody leaders sitting just mourning idly ….and not taking steps for the poor class of this country…what the hell…is this democracy!”
– “it was 14 not 20.”
– ” it was 18 not 14..”
– “Agar aj govt. Ne stores par normal rate par easily available aata kia hota to abi ye time na aata k wheat k liye log apni jan se hath dho bethain!! This bloody govt is completely responsible for that-”
– “Sad but not unique to Pakistan. It was a non-scheduled private distribution not monitored by the Police that turned into a tragedy when some of the women decided to break the Que. Individuals may be organized but crowds tend to get rowdy and hence stampede’s pursue. Case and point, death of Haji’s at Makkah which is one of the best examples of crowd monitoring and flow control. When things go wrong in such situations, they end up in such incidents.”
– “Who is responsible?”
– “horrifying”
sad, these news make me realise how the extent of poverty existing in our country..
abdul hai wrote.
>>The Imams in the mosques do not tell their ………
Oh yes. Simple… everything is mullah’s fault. Case closed.
The Imams in the mosques do not tell their so called devout merchants and businessmen that: “O You who have attained the faith| Do not devour one another’s possessions wrongfully -not even by way of trade based on mutual agreement.” Quran Chapter 4, Verse 29. These merchants and businessmen in Pakistan inflate the prices of commodities required by common man during Ramadan and charge ridiculous profits of 100 to 400 percent. They only talk about the length of the pants and hijab.
I request ATP to start a collection website for donations to the orphan children and others who lost their loved ones in this murder. Let us join and contribute to this cause.