One killed, eight injured in stampede over free flour in Charsadda

One person was killed and eight others injured during a stampede for free flour in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Charsadda on Thursday, the first day of the holy month of Ramazan.

The price of basic food items has rocketed in recent months, with inflation at a near 50 year-high as the country grapples with a balance of payments crisis that has seen it forced back into negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

"Nine people were trampled and were taken to hospital where one person died," said Muhammad Arif, police chief for Charsadda.

Read more: 185000 families to get free wheat flour

Arif said that hundreds of people gathered at the local market for the handouts, one of hundreds of distribution points set up by the government during Ramazan.

Millions of low-income families across the country are registered under the scheme.

In a nearby district, a man died and four others were injured when a wall they were sitting on collapsed as crowds amassed for free flour.

Authorities told AFP it was not clear why the wall collapsed.

Pakistan's finances have been wrecked by years of financial mismanagement and political instability -- a situation exacerbated by a global energy crisis and devastating floods that left a third of the country under water last year.

The nation is deeply in debt, and needs to introduce tough tax and utility price increases to unlock another tranche of a $6.5 billion IMF bail-out and avoid defaulting.