Death toll in Pakistan toxic gas leak rises to nine

A toxic gas leak has killed four more people in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, police said.

It takes the death toll so far to nine in the incident that has made hundreds of people ill and mystified authorities.

The new deaths have caused panic in Karachi and raised concerns that the city’s government, which has failed to identify the source of the leak and the type of gas involved, is at a loss in dealing with the situation, though officials insist there is no suspicion of sabotage.
The apparently odourless gas, which causes severe breathing problems, has caused hundreds to fall ill since the leak first struck in Karachi’s coastal neighbourhood of Kamari on Sunday night, when people suddenly started rushing to local hospitals.

Authorities said they were planning to evacuate residents from Kamari, which is close to the main port where incoming ships anchor, to safer places by Tuesday evening.

The initial death toll on Monday morning stood at five but Adil Malik, a local police chief, said about 150 more people had been rushed to hospitals by the evening, with the same symptoms, and the death toll subsequently rose to nine.

All the stricken people – hospitals said they had treated more than 650 – were residents of Kamari. No cases were reported in the port itself.

“There are thousands of shipping containers in the port area and authorities are checking them to determine if the toxic gas emitted from there,” Mr Malik said.