Pakistani police arrest eight after deadly Ramadan food stampede
Published:Saturday | April 1, 2023 | 4:26 PM
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police on Saturday arrested eight people in the southern port city of Karachi after a stampede killed 12 people at a Ramadan food and cash distribution point a day earlier.
Hundreds of women and children rushed to collect free food and cash outside a factory in an industrial area of the city on Friday.
Business owners during the Islamic holy month often hand out cash and food, especially to the poor.
An initial report from the police says nine women, aged between 40 and 80, and three children, aged between 10 and 15, died in the crush.
Police said the eight arrests include the factory manager, who did not tell local authorities about the Ramadan alms giving.
“Factory management did not open the inside gate of the factory and, due to the narrow street, the people at the tail of the line pushed elderly women and children,” Superintendent of Police Investigations Dr Hafeez Bugti told the media during a visit to the site.
“As a result, pressure increased enormously, and women and children became the victims of the stampede.”
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