There was a stampede for free flour on Thursday, the first day of the Ramadan fasting month, in Pakistan, which has been struggling with rising prices. One man was brutally killed, and eight others were wounded in the stampede.
The country is currently dealing with a crisis in its currency, which has resulted in its being pressured into engagement and participation with the International Monetary Fund.
Because of the recession, the prices of basic food items have gone through the roof in recent weeks, and they are about to reach their highest level in nearly 50 years.
Muhammad Arif, the head of police in Charsadda, which is in the northwest corner of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and where the event happened, said, "Nine people were stomped, and one of them was pronounced dead at a hospital."
Arif said that a lot of people went to the nearby market to get donations, which was one of the hundreds of places where the government had set up delivery points during the month of Ramadan.
Millions of low-income households from all over the country have signed up for this program.
A wall that a man and four other people were sitting on fell in a neighbourhood nearby as masses gathered for free flour, causing the man to pass away and injuring the other four people.
Law enforcement agencies told the AFP that they didn't know why the wall had come down.
Due to years of poor financial management and political instability, Pakistan's economy is in shambles.
A global oil crisis as well as severe floods that hit the country last year and submerged a third of the landmass in water have made this situation worse.
The South Asian country has a lot of debt. If it doesn't want to default on its IMF payments and get another part of a $6.5 billion government bailout, it has to raise taxes and utility prices strictly.
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