Pakistan: Stampede at food donation center leaves 11 dead

At least 11 people, including three children, were killed in the southern city of Karachi, Pakistan, on Friday when a ration distribution event resulted in a stampede, police said.

Since the start of the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan, which encourages the distribution of alms to the needy, the stampede is one of the deadliest ones yet in the economically-challenged country.

What happened?

Hundreds of women and children had gathered outside a factory located in an industrial area called Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate (SITE) to collect food.

The company's owner had invited the employees' families to distribute Zakat or charity, according to local media.

A day earlier, authorities had ordered police officials to be deployed at Ramadan distribution centers to prevent overcrowding.

As the crowd gathered, some women and children fell into an open drain, and a wall nearby also collapsed, as stated by police and residents.

The factory owner, who was not present at the event, reportedly did not inform the officials about the event and no proper arrangements were available to deal with an emergency situation.

The police detained some of the factory workers shortly after the incident to interrogate them on the matter.

Food insecurity and high inflation

Last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government announced a free flour initiative for millions of Pakistanis struggling with the rampant inflation in the country.

Weekly inflation rose to at least 40% year on year, Pakistan's local media reported in mid-March.

However, similar incidents have occurred since the start of Ramadan at the flour distribution points.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed its concern for the "marginalized" people of the country who have to face "the economic injustice perpetrated by the elites" of the state in a Tweet.

The political instability has further fuelled the worsening economic situation of the country.

After the former PM Imran Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote last year, the political crisis has deepened.

PM Sharif's government has been trying to revive a $7 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund that was set forth in 2019.

So far, talks with the IMF have been unsuccessful as the government has failed to meet IMF's conditions.

aa/jcg  (afp,ap,dpa,Reuters)