ZCZC
BFF-23
PAKISTAN-GAS LEAKAGE-DEATH
Death toll rises to 8 in mysterious poisonous gas leakage in Pakistan’s
Karachi
ISLAMABAD, Feb 18, 2020 (BSS/XINHUA) – Death toll of an unknown poisonous
gas leak on Sunday in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province has risen to eight,
with authorities still clueless about the type of the gas and the source of
the continuous leakage, local media and officials said on Tuesday morning.
An official from Sindh province’s health department told Xinhua that the
death toll of the accident in the provincial capital Karachi has been rising
after three of the under treatment persons died at different hospitals during
the last 24 hours, adding that around 100 people are still under treatment.
Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah visited hospitals treating the
affected people and asked authorities concerned to increase the number of
beds in the hospitals because the gas is continuously leaking and people are
getting affected.
Hospitals officials told media that over 350 affected people have been
brought to the hospitals so far and around 250 have been discharged after
recovery.
Ziauddin Hospital’s Chief Operating Officer Zahid Ali Faheem told media
that people are feeling itching in eyes, stomachache, problems in breathing,
tightness in the chest followed by dizziness and unconsciousness.
An unknown poisonous gas started leaking in the Kemari area of Karachi on
Sunday evening, killing five people and affected dozens of others in less
than half an hour.
Earlier reports said that the toxic gas leaked when workers were unloading
a chemical loaded container from a ship docked at the Kemari port area.
However, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi rejected
the reports and said that no such incident happened at the port area but in
the Railway Colony, a residential compound in Kemari near the port area.
The minister said on Twitter that a team of Nuclear, Biological and
Chemical Damage under Pakistan Navy is engaged in chemical analysis of the
unidentified gas.
Adviser to Chief Minister of Sindh Murtaza Wahab told Xinhua that hydrogen
sulphide could be the probable type of the leaked gas but so far the
investigation is inconclusive and teams are still working on it.
A heavy contingent of police and security forces have cordoned off the
whole area and are not allowing any civilian or media person to enter.
BSS/XINHUA/FI/1708