KARACHI: Son lost leg in accident day before mother’s death
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, April 9: A youth, who had lost his leg in a road accident on Saturday, was not told about his mother’s death in the Faizan-i-Madina stampede on Sunday. One of the deceased was Ms Haseena, 60, wife of Mehmood Khan. Her young son, Hamid, met a road accident and was operated upon at a local hospital where the doctors had amputated his leg. The mother had gone to Faizan-i-Madina to participate in the congregation and pray for her son’s early recovery, said a woman who identified herself as Ms Saima, a neighbour of Ms Haseena in Liaquatabad.
She said that Ms Haseena and some other women neighbours had gone to the seminary together. Ms Saima and the other women identified Haseena’s body and informed her family about the incident. She said that the stampede broke out all of a sudden and no one knew what caused the panic. Everyone on the upper and ground floors started rushing out of the mosque to escape an unknown threat apparently looming large.
Another deceased was seven-month pregnant named Ms Mehrunnisa, 25. Her body was brought to the Liaquat National Hospital. She was identified by her husband, Irfan, a resident of Liaquatabad. He said they had been regularly visitors of Faizan-i-Madina for attending mass praying sessions.
Yet another victim was Haleema Ismail, 50. Her son, Nadeem Khan, said: “We had requested our mother not to go today and join us at the dinner were have arranged for some relatives at home. However, she insisted and left.”
She was a frequent visitor of the mosque and had insisted that she could not afford missing the congregation, Mr Khan said. “She had said she will return soon, but she will never,” he said with tears rolling down his face.
Ms Ruqaiyya, mother of five, lost her eight-year-old daughter, Saira, and was looking after her son, who was injured in the stampede.
Standing beside her son’s bed at the hospital, she looked deeply shocked and worried. She said that she had two sons and three daughters.
She said she had taken along two of the children to the congregation and Saira fell victim to the stampede.
