SUKKUR: Six people were killed and several others fainted in a stampede during the 8th Muharram taboot (coffin) procession in Rohri late on Sunday night.

The procession was taken out from Imam­bargha Shah-i-Iraq in the evening. The stampede occurred when many of the hundreds of participants tried to touch, kiss and shoulder the taboot at a time. Scores of them fell down and were run over by many others.

They fell unconscious and six of them died before they could be provided any medical assistance.

Five of the deceased were identifed as Dil Sher, son of Moorzado, a resident of Kashmore; Hassan Pathan, a resident of Local Board locality of Sukkur; Zulfiqar Solangi and his brother Mansoor Solangi, residents of Khairpur district; and Kamran Ali, a resident of Ghotki district. The name of the remaining one could not be ascertained till late in the evening.

The other affected people were taken to nearby medical camps set up by the Edhi and other welfare organisations in Rohri.

The procession continued to take its course after the incident to reach its culmination point, Mandho Khabar.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2022