12 injured in stampede

Flood survivors injured in stampede at registration centre set up in Sukkur.

SUKKUR: Twelve people were injured in a stampede at a registration centre set up in a public school in Sukkur on Thursday.

Hundreds of flood-affected people gathered outside the public school hours ahead of the scheduled time and stood waiting for officials to open the main gate. They were anxious to get their names registered because this makes them eligible to get Watan cards.

As soon as the gate was opened, the queue dissolved into a pushing, shoving mass that struggled to get inside first. Twelve people fell during the rush but others kept on going and stepping over them. The injured were taken to a medical camp in a nearby relief camp. The injured include Ghulam Rabbani Behalkani, Mohammad Nawaz Behalkani, Bhooral Bhangar, Ghulam Jaffery, Khamiso Jaffery and Rehmatullah.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2010.