Students faint from tear gas shelling at nearby police training centre in Sindh

The shelling was part of a routine training exercise for anti-riot police unit, said officials

KARACHI: Several students of a public primary school in Razzaqabad had to be administered first aid after they fell sick from the tear gas emitted by shells that were shot by police personnel as part of a training routine at the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Elite Police Training Centre, located nearby. Some of the students were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where their condition was said to be out of danger.

The tear gas shelling caused panic in the school as teachers and students rushed out of their classrooms. The smoke emitted from the shells quickly spread in the area, even forcing residents to come out of their homes. Many complained they were having difficulty breathing. The worst affected, however, were the young students, at least four of whom had to be admitted to the hospital.

Blame it on the wind

The school administration blamed the incident on the police training centre's negligence and demanded the police higher-ups to hold those responsible to account.

One of the teachers told The Express Tribune that the staff treated the affected students by washing their faces and eyes and sent them home when their condition got slightly better. She added that the school administration had reached out to officials at the training centre, who said that the shelling would be stopped in a while.

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Meanwhile, Shah Latif Town Police SHO Rana Maqsood told The Express Tribune that young police recruits were being taught how to fire tear gas shells at the training centre. He added that the students who were affected by the gas were rushed to a nearby hospital, from where one of them was discharged after being administered first aid while four others were shifted to another hospital in Gulshan-e-Hadeed. Their condition too is out of danger, he said.

For his part, Razzaqabad Police Training Centre Principal Commandant Tanveer Alam Odho said that the anti-riots unit was training new recruits on how to fire tear gas shells. The training was going on as per routine on Thursday but the tear gas emitted by the shells reached the nearby school with the change in wind direction, he said. He did not confirm, however, whether the shell fell inside the school or near it.

According to the notification issued by the Sindh Police spokesperson, Training DIG Zulfiqar Larak said that the incident was caused by a change in the wind direction. Larak has directed the Razzaqabad Police Training Centre Principal to visit the school and speak to residents of the area and settle the matter through negotiations. The strategy of the police training should also be reviewed, he directed.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2019.