A Ramadan alms donation caused a stampede in Pakistan’s inflation-stricken southern city of Karachi on Friday, killing at least 11, according to police.
The Pakistani rupee has been in freefall for months, and the cost of basic foods has increased by almost 50% as the nation struggles with a balance of payments problem that has forced it into bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. (IMF).
Senior police official Fida Janwari said the stampede occurred when needy women with children flocked to a factory handing out alms. Baldia Town is a neighborhood in western Karachi.
“Panic struck and people started running,” he told AFP.
A local administration official said 600 to 700 people were corralled in a small industrial compound.
“When they opened the main gate, all the people rushed in,” added 22-year-old Fatima Noor, whose sister died in the crush.
According to spokesman Muhammad Farraukh, the corpses of six women and three children were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed state hospital.
Two more corpses were transported to another hospital, according to a Rescue NGO official who spoke to AFP, and police surgeon Summaiya Syed Tariq verified the total death toll of 11 late on Friday.
Asma Ahmed, 30, claimed that among the deceased were her grandmother and cousin.
“We come every year to the factory for the Zakat,” she said, using the Islamic term for alms.
“They started beating the women with clubs and pushing them,” Ahmed added. “There was chaos everywhere.”
“Why did they call us if they couldn’t manage it?” she asked.
