KARACHI, April 9: Emotional scenes, amid the unending VIP movements, were witnessed at the city’s two hospitals where casualties from the Faizan-i-Madina seminary were brought following a stampede on Sunday. Victims in a large number were rushed to the nearby Liaquat National Hospital where an emergency was declared. Additional strength of the doctors and paramedics were called in by the hospital management to tackle the situation. Similarly, many more victims were taken to the JPMC where several injured breathed their last during treatment. An emergency was declared at the JPMC also.
A young girl, who was undergoing treatment at the JPMC recalled that a forceful push from behind hit her as she had stepped out of the building along with her mother. She said that the tents pitched outside the Faizan-i-Madina had also collapsed on the crowd.
At the JPMC Emergency Ward, bodies covered with sheets were seen lined up on stretchers in different rooms. The hospital’s mortuary appeared short of capacity.
Parents of a victim broke down after recognizing the body. They were consoled and taken outside the Emergency Ward by other family members. “My daughter had gone to attend the congregation,” Ghulam Rasool who lives in Ranchor Line said, adding, “at around 6pm, we heard about the incident and got panicked. We rushed to the hospital after failing to locate her at the Faizan-i-Madina.”
Eight bodies were shifted to the JPMC from the LNH in ambulances. The loud sirens blown by these ambulances together created further panic at and around the JPMC.
A large crowd had gathered outside the Emergency Ward causing troubles to the patients coming for urgent treatment.
Opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Health Minister Shabbir Qaimkhani, Adviser on Local Govt Waseem Akhtar, Adviser on Information Salahuddin Haider and Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil visited the JPMC to inquire about the welfare of the injured.
However, except Nisar Khuhro, who drove up to the hospital without any escort, all other VIPs arrived with protocols and escorts creating hassles at the already congested entrance of the Emergency Ward. Senior officials of the Faizan-i-Madina, like some other prominent leaders, also visited the hospital in the same manner, with armed guards.
A man, identifying himself as Qari Asif, an official of the Faizan-i-Madina, told newsmen at the JPMC that seminary earlier had three exits but after a park was developed two exit points were closed. “We repeatedly took up the matter with the officials concerned but they did not act.” He believed that the tragedy might not have taken place had the two exits not been closed.
Chief of the Sunni Tehrik Abbas Qadri, talking to newsmen at the JPMC, also criticized closure of the exits.
A senior doctor at the JPMC was of the opinion that a few lives could have been saved had some of the injured been brought a little earlier.
The apparent reason for the delay in rushing the casualties to hospitals appeared to be denial of access to male rescue workers to the scene of the tragedy.
Rizwan Edhi told Dawn that the Edhi Centre happened to be very close to the seminary but the people there did not allow any male rescue workers to handle the victims, being pardah observing women. It was only after the arrival of the male relatives of the victims that the rescue work could be started.
KARACHI, April 9: Emotional scenes, amid the unending VIP movements, were witnessed at the city’s two hospitals where casualties from the Faizan-i-Madina seminary were brought following a stampede on Sunday. Victims in a large number were rushed to the nearby Liaquat National Hospital where an emergency was declared. Additional strength of the doctors and paramedics were called in by the hospital management to tackle the situation. Similarly, many more victims were taken to the JPMC where several injured breathed their last during treatment. An emergency was declared at the JPMC also.
A large crowd had gathered outside the Emergency Ward causing troubles to the patients coming for urgent treatment.
