International Desk : At least 11 people have been killed after a stampede at a Ramadan food distribution centre in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi, police officials said.

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Police official Mughees Hashmi said several people were also injured in Friday’s incident, which occurred when hundreds of people panicked and started pushing each other to collect food outside a factory. Some of them fell into a nearby drain.

Residents said a wall also collapsed near the drain, injuring and killing people amid the stampede.

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Hashmi said the factory owner who organised the food distribution centre had not alerted police about the plan. He said local police were unaware of the distribution, otherwise they might have deployed forces.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is from Sindh province, whose capital is Karachi, ordered authorities to investigate what caused the incident.

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The stampede is the deadliest at Ramadan food distribution points since the start of the Muslim holy month of fasting last week.

Local resident Mohammad Arsalan said he lives near the factory where people had gathered since the morning to collect the free food. He said he did not know what exactly caused the incident, but “we heard cries and later learned about this stampede”.

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Large crowds of people have been gathering at distribution centres since the government launched an initiative last week to give free flour to low-income families during Ramadan to ease the impact of record-breaking inflation and soaring poverty.

Sun News/MR

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