Canada Global (Web News) As a result of a Ramadan alms contribution that prompted a stampede in the country’s inflation-stricken southern city of Karachi, at least nine people were killed, according to officials.
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 crisis that has forced it into bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Senior police officer Fida Janwari said the stampede occurred as desperate ladies with children flocked to a factory handing out donations. Baldia Town is a suburb in western Karachi.
Many began to flee as a result of the panic, he told AFP.
According to spokesman Muhammad Farraukh, the bodies of six women and three children were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed state hospital.
Two more dead were delivered to another hospital in the city, a Rescue NGO representative told AFP.
Asma Ahmed, 30, claimed that among the deceased were her grandma and niece.
