Stampedes For Food Kill 16 In Pakistan

Islamabad: At least 16 people, including 5 women and 3 children, were killed in deadly stampedes at food distribution sites across Pakistan in the last few days.

Driven by starvation and rising prices amid the highest inflation (35%) ever recorded in Pakistan, massive crowds have been gathering for free food during Ramzan.

As the gathering at a Peshawar centre became “difficult for the government to control,” the Food minister said police resorted to using teargas and firing their weapons in the air to disperse the crowd, reported international news agencies.

Hundreds of women and children panicked and pushed each other, some of them falling into a drain while many were trampled upon by those who managed to keep their balance and flee.

While 11 people were killed in Peshawar, 5 others lost their lives in Karachi and other places.

A retired factory worker who had gone to acquire free flour in Lahore, said he can’t afford a bag of flour which now costs 1,160 rupees, adding that his pension is 8,500 rupees and he has no other means of income.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari ordered an inquiry into the Peshawar incident.