Enlarge Associated PressPeople mourn the death of a relative who died in a stampede, at a local hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. At least 18 women and girls waiting to get free flour in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi died when the crowd around them swelled and a stampede occurred, officials said.
Associated PressPeople mourn the death of a relative who died in a stampede, at a local hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. At least 18 women and girls waiting to get free flour in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi died when the crowd around them swelled and a stampede occurred, officials said.
Enlarge Associated PressPeople mourn the death of a relative who died in a stampede, at a local hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. At least 18 women and girls waiting to get free flour in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi died when the crowd around them swelled and a stampede occurred, officials said.
Associated PressPeople mourn the death of a relative who died in a stampede, at a local hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. At least 18 women and girls waiting to get free flour in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi died when the crowd around them swelled and a stampede occurred, officials said.
Associated PressPeople mourn the death of a relative who died in a stampede, at a local hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. At least 18 women and girls waiting to get free flour in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi died when the crowd around them swelled and a stampede occurred, officials said.
Associated PressPakistani police officers, front are assisted by bystanders as they carry a victim of a stampede in Karachi, Pakistan on Monday Sept. 14, 2009. At least 18 women and girls waiting to get free flour in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi died when the crowd around them swelled and a stampede occurred, officials said.
Enlarge Associated PressA Pakistani woman mourns over the death of people, who died in a stampede, at a local hospital in Karachi, Pakistan on Monday Sept. 14, 2009.. At least 18 women and girls waiting to get free flour in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi died when the crowd around them swelled and a stampede occurred, officials said.
Associated PressA Pakistani woman mourns over the death of people, who died in a stampede, at a local hospital in Karachi, Pakistan on Monday Sept. 14, 2009.. At least 18 women and girls waiting to get free flour in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi died when the crowd around them swelled and a stampede occurred, officials said.
KARACHI, Pakistan September 14, 2009, 11:18 pm ET At least 18 women and girls died when a crowd waiting for handouts of flour swelled and panicked in Pakistan's most populous city, officials said.
The stampede in Karachi came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a traditional time for charitable acts including giving away food. Pakistan's battered economy, combined with higher than usual prices for staples such as sugar due to alleged hoarding by producers, has made this Ramadan a particularly needy time for the country's largely impoverished population of 175 million.
At times, however, the food giveaways have turned rowdy and dangerous.
Monday's stampede occurred in a small building with narrow passages. As more women entered to get the flour, some panicked and guards used strong-arm tactics to clear the building, officials and witnesses said.
Karachi police chief Wasim Ahmad said at least 18 women and girls died in the ensuing rush. Mohammad Amin Khan of Karachi Civil Hospital said some of the women had suffocated and that there were at least 20 bodies.
"Hundreds of women were pushing to enter into the small hall, and guards started beating us to get the place cleared," said 30-year-old Kulsoom, who gave only one name and ended up among the many wounded. "I fell down and was being crushed. My heart was missing beats, and I thought I was dying."
Panicked relatives streamed into the hospital, while others brought limp bodies in the backs of trucks or in their arms. Some women wailed while laying on stretchers.
The flour giveaway was organized by a private donor who Ahmad said was detained for not giving police prior notice of the event. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered an inquiry.
Karachi, a southern port city, is Pakistan's commercial heart, but many of its residents live in dire conditions.
"Poverty is on the rise, there is a desperation among people," local government official Javed Hanif said. "Naturally, when people are frustrated, whenever they get such an opportunity, they try to grab the maximum."
