A 40-year-old man died and several were reported to be injured during a stampede in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for free flour in inflation-hit Pakistan.
The price of basic food items has skyrocketed in Pakistan with inflation at a nearly 50-year-high as the government is struggling to keep the economy afloat. The government is yet to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to resume a $6.5bn loan programme.
Charsadda police officials said nine people were trampled and were taken to hospital where one died.
The incident occurred as hundreds of people gathered at the local market for the handouts, one of the hundreds of distribution points set up by the government during Ramadan.
Earlier, a 50-year-old woman died as she was trying to get flour from the Punjab government’s free flour point at Chowk Sarwar Shaheed while two fainted at another flour point.
The incidents occurred due to a large gathering of people and a lack of facilities at the points set up by the government to distribute free wheat flour among the citizens under its Ramadan Package.
