Several women injured in stampede at BISP point

MANSEHRA: Many women sustained injuries and fell unconscious during a stampede that occurred outside the Benazir Income Support Programme centre during the payment of the quarterly instalments to beneficiaries here on Wednesday.

“Though many women sustained injuries and fell unconscious in a stampede outside the BISP offices, we shifted to a health facility three of them who were seriously injured,” Amir Khadam the Rescue 1122 official, told reporters.

A large number of women thronged the centre from different parts of the district to receive financial assistance under the BISP.According to eyewitnesses, the women fell on the ground, sustained injuries and fainted after some of them started pushing each other to get them queued in the front lines and receive the money prior to others.

Director, Benazir Income Support Programme, Zar Nabi told reporters that the incident happened owing to a massive rush as deserving women hurried to their offices without receiving a prior message from head offices. He said Rescue 1122 officials were called to shift the injured women to the King Abdullah Teaching hospital.