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Friday, October 10, 2014

Political Rally in Pakistan Ends in Deadly Stampede - New York Times


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Asia Pacific |Political Rally in Pakistan Ends in Deadly Stampede



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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — At least seven people were killed and 43 injured in a stampede after a political rally for an opposition politician, Imran Khan, on Friday evening in central Pakistan, according to rescue workers and officials.


The victims were suffocated as people pushed their way out of a gate at Qasim Bagh Stadium, where the rally was held, officials said.


Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered in Multan, the biggest city in the southern part of Punjab Province, to listen to the speech of Mr. Khan, a charismatic former cricket player turned politician, who has been demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.


Mr. Khan has led sit-ins in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, since mid-August, and has now embarked on political rallies across the country to further expand his opposition movement.


His political rallies are usually disciplined and organized, and attended by large numbers of young men and women. Friday’s event drew an estimated 80,000, according to local news media reports.


The disaster unfolded as people began to leave the stadium, witnesses said.


“People tried to leave the venue at once,” one witness, who was not identified, told Geo TV, a private news network, “and 30 to 40 people fell down near Hussain Agahi Gate and were crushed by the incoming wave of people.”


Television images showed people holding unconscious young men as they were rushed to a nearby hospital.


Mr. Khan and his party leaders blamed mismanagement by the local government for the deaths.


“I hold the district administration of Multan responsible,” said Shah Mehmood Qureshi, a senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the political party of Mr. Khan.


Mr. Qureshi claimed that district officials did not open all exits in the stadium and turned off electricity as people prepared to leave, setting off panic and confusion.


But the government denied the allegations and laid the blame on the political party, claiming that it was responsible for the security of the event within the stadium.


“Nobody from P.T.I. guided people about how to leave the venue,” said Zahid Saleem Gondal, the top government official of Multan, using the party’s initials. “This is an issue of internal security.”



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