11 killed in Karachi stampede in Zakat and ration distribution event
KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: At least 11 people lost their lives in a stampede that occurred during Zakat and ration (food items) distribution in a factory in Karachi on Friday.
Keamari police reported the number of casualties around 11. They said that the dead and the injured were shifted to the hospital.
Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that nine bodies, including women and two boys, were brought to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
Keamari Senior Superintendent of Police told the media that the FK Dyeing Company invited the families of its employees for distributing Zakat and ration.
He said that “hundreds of women” reached the factory to get Zakat. Seeing a big crowd of people, the company’s staff closed the doors of the factory. He said that inside the premises there were no arrangements in place for making a queue, adding that local police were also not informed about the event.
A senior police official said that several women fainted from the heat and the stampede.
He said police contingents rushed to the spot, took into custody some of the employees on charges of negligence, and shifted injured women to different hospitals.
The SSP said that police have arrested three employees of the firm, including its manager and supervisor. They did not make adequate proper arrangements which turned the charity event into tragedy, he said.
According to police, negligence of the management of the factory caused this tragedy.
