11 women among 15 killed in Jalalabad stampede

KABUL (Pajhwok): Seeking visas, 15 people, including 11 women, were killed and a dozen others wounded in a stampede outside the Pakistani consulate in eastern Nangarhar province on Wednesday morning.

After an eight months break, the Pakistani embassy and consulates have resumed issuing visas in five cities of Afghanistan and the nation’s capital Kabul.

In order to prevent overcrowding and facilitate applicants, a token system was initiated at a football stadium in Jalalabad, the provincial capital.

Farid Ahmad Istiqlal, a volunteer supervising the process, told Pajhwok Afghan News the visa issuing process had restarted after a long break.

At 8:00am, he claimed, overcrowding triggered a stampede that went beyond control. A number of women were among the casualties, he said.

Gulzada Sangar, spokesman for Jalalabad Zonal Hospital, told Pajhwok the bodies of 11 women had been brought to the hospital from the site.

Without commenting on their condition, he said the injured included nine women and three men.

Provincial council member Sohrab Qaderi also confirmed the fatalities included 11 women and senior citizens.

Other officials said more than 3,000 Afghans had gathered at the site to collect tokens needed to apply for a Pakistani visa.

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sa/mud