Woman dies at free flour stampede

43 others injured in incident, 18 admitted to hospitals for treatment

CHICHAWATNI:

A 65-year-old woman died and 43 others were injured in a stampede at a free flour distribution centre in Chichawatni on Tuesday.

Two men were also injured in the incident.

Local officials told The Express Tribune that 18 people injured in the stampede were admired to hospitals.

According to witnesses, the victims.were standing in queues to get flour at a distribution centre set up in a cricket stadium when the link of the online application used for the process developed a fault.

As the work stopped, the number of people gathered at the centre increased and insufficient arrangements caused a stampede among the women.

As a result, 65-year-old Naseem Akhtar died on the spot, while 43 women and two men were injured.

Rescue 1122 staff treated 24 women and the the two men on the spot.

The severely injured women were taken to the Sahiwal Teaching Hospital. Hospital officials said the injured women included Yasmin, Naziran Bibi, Kulsoom Bibi, Sakina, Nadia Latif, Bhagan Bibi, Asia, Kausar Bibi, Shazia, Suraiya Bibi, Naziran, Shazia, Zubaidah Bibi, Maryam, Areba and Shamim.

Local officers reached the spot after the incident and the flour distribution at the centre was stopped.

In another incident, a woman died on her way home after receiving free flour in Jahanian.

Rescue 1122 sources said Rasheeda Bibi was heading home after receiving a free flour bag when she suddenly fell unconscious due to low blood pressure. She was taken to the tehsil headquarters hospital, where she died.

On March 25, an old man had died of a heart attack after receiving flour in Bhakkar and a woman had died stampede at a spot in Muzaffargarh.

In Lahore, a spokesperson for the Punjab government explained that the elderly woman who had died during flour distribution in Jahanian had suffered a heart attack. After fainting, the 73-ywar-old woman had been rushed to hospital but she died, the spokesman asserted in a statement. He said the government fully shared the grief of the family of the deceased.

He said more than 100 million people in the province would benefit from the Rs53 billion Ramazan package.

The government will give more flour bags to the beneficiaries in the second phase and the distribution will continue till the 25th of Ramazan.

Meanwhile, Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced that the free flour distribution centre throughout the province would operate from 6am daily from Wednesday to reduce overcrowding.

It was decided in a meeting that additional police force would be deployed and the DPOs and deputy commissioners would also be present at the centres in the morning to ensure better management.

The participants were informed that around 13.2 million flour bags had been distributed across the province so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2023.