Factory stampede case registered
People mourn the death of a relative, who was killed with others in a stampede during handout distribution, at a hospital morgue in Karachi, Pakistan March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
Police on Saturday registered a case regarding the death of 12 people, mostly women and children in a stampede during charity distribution at a factory in the SITE area. The case was registered at the SITE A police station on the government's complaint against the owners and other management staff of the factory. The owner, Abdul Khaliq, has been taken into custody on charges of negligence.
According to the FIR, the factory management did not inform the police and district administration about their plan to distribute food ration and cash handouts in Zakat. When the factory's watchman opened a small gate next to the main gate, women and children rushed in, triggering a stampede, as per the FIR in which nine people, including the factory's owner and two managers, have been nominated.
As many as 12 people, including women and children, trampled to death at the stampede during the distribution of ration and cash handouts in the factory. Another 10 people were also injured in the stampede. Compensation Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has expressed deep grief on the loss of lives during zakat distribution by a factory in the site area of Karachi.
He stated that the company owners should have distributed the zakat in a systematic and disciplined manner. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Memon announced that the Sindh police have registered an FIR of the incident, and the Chief Minister of Sindh has pledged an aid of Rs500,000 each for the families of those who died in the incident, and Rs100,000 each for the injured.
The minister said that the Sindh government has formulated a coordinated strategy to deliver cash to beneficiaries with the support of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). Under this scheme, 78 lakh families will be provided with Rs2,000 per family for the purchase of subsidised flour, with more than 10,00,000 people having already received the cash. Sharjeel said that the Sindh government aims to assist people in a dignified manner instead of making them stand on the road. In the month of Ramazan, a subsidy of Rs15 billion would be given, with the Sindh government planning to spend an additional Rs5 billion in this regard. He urged beneficiaries to approach their nearest BISP centre, where they will be registered within 24 hour