Fatal struggle for free flour

KARACHI - As many as 18 women and a child lost lives in a stampede as they desperately sought to get free flour. The tragedy occurred during the distribution of free ration at the citys wholesale market here Monday afternoon.
According to reports, a local businessman Chaudhry Iftikhar had made arrangements for the distribution of free ration among the poor and needy persons at Iqbal Company, located at Khodi garden, Jodia Bazaar.
A huge number of women and children gathered at the said place to get these free rations. Reports said that there was a narrow staircase from where the women had to ascend. When the organisers saw the rush of women, they closed the door of the building to control the mob, which created suffocation among the women, who then panicked and started running for the door all at once, which caused the stampede,
Saddar Police SSP Abdullah Sheikh confirmed the death toll stood at 17, which included 16 women and one child, the figure that was also confirmed by the MLO Civil Hospital, Karachi where the bodies were taken.
Sheikh said the incident occurred after a local philanthropist set up a charitable stall of ration.
He said the first few victims had fainted because of the congestion inside the building, and when they were being removed the rest of the women thought people were dying and almost all of them panicked creating a death trap for themselves.
Sheikh said the owner of the godown had been arrested.
He has been identified as Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, owner of the Iqbal Company located in Kohri Garden, Jodia Bazaar.
DIG South, Ghulam Nabi Memon while talking to the media said that FIR would be registered against the responsible under section 322 Cr.PC and an inquiry committee has been constituted under the supervision of SSP Farhat Junejo.
We will be registering a case against him, either of negligence or involvement after due consultations with the higher police officials, he said.
Police doctors at the Civil Hospital also confirmed the death toll at 17 including 16 women and one child.
The age of the victims is between 25 and 45. They died because of suffocation and stampede. Almost all the cases here relate to broken ribs, chest and ruptured abdomen, doctors at the Civil Hospital said.
Police Surgeon Dr Hamid Padhair said that total eighteen women were killed in the incident. The families of the 15 took their bodies away with postmortem while the three women were taken away without legal formalities. He further said that the total 15 injured women were taken to the hospital, ten have been discharged while five still admitted.
The deceased were identified as Tasleem, 12, daughter of Abdul Sattar, Amna, daughter of Younus, her sister Roshna, 22, Zahoor Bibi, 35, wife of Haq Nawaz, Asiya, 25, Samina, 25, Shahida, 40, wife of Dil Murad, Nosheen, 32, wife of Habib Gul, Nargis, 17, daughter of Shakeel, Shamshad Bibi, 35, Robina, 25, Shahnaz, 42, Noreen, 36, Munawara, 50, Latifa Begum, 50, wife of Khuda Bux and two unknown women.
Meanwhile political parties, both the ruling and the opposition have offered their condolences to the families of the victims.
The MQM, PPP, PML-Nawaz, ANP have offered their condolences to the relatives of the dead, while the PML-Quaid, Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, civil society and NGOs have blamed the government for the tragedy saying circumstances forced so many people to make best of the cheap flour offer.
Interestingly some of the bystanders at the site of the tragedy also blamed the mismanagement caused by the people and not by the management of the flour.
The women were being too disorganised. It was not the organisers fault but the women who didnt follow the rules. They were constantly telling us to behave in an orderly fashion but no one was listening, said one woman, who witnessed the entire saga.
Another woman said the man at the door of the building should not have closed the door.
The minute he did that I knew there would be trouble. Because it was already too congested on the street, I had a feeling it would be worse inside the building, she said.
There was some criticism from the onlookers who said that the organiser for this ration distribution could have managed things a bit more seriously.
Chairman Karachi Wholesale Grocers Association Anis Majeed confirmed that Chaudhry is a member of the association, and we will hold an enquiry to see who is really responsible. But I cannot comment on the entire story at this point, he said.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani have expressed deep shock and grief of the loss of precious lives during a stampede and ordered an immediate enquiry.
Both President and Premier took serious note of the poor arrangements to manage huge crowds and said the local authorities should have undertaken measures to ensure that the distribution was smooth and safe.
This incident follows on the heels of the death of an old man in Punjab as a result of a heart attack suffered while waiting endlessly in queue for subsidised flour.