During a concert of Atif Aslam organized by a Punjab Group of Colleges at Al-Hamra Cultural Complex a stampede broke out due to being overfilled and resulted in death of three girls and injuring five others.According to reports, the deceased girls were students aged between 17-22. They were Maheen Naseem, 17, Sara Nawaz, 22 and Nimra, 16.There were reportedly between 6000 and 7000 girls at the concert, beyond the venue’s capacity.Rescue 1122 had reached the venue and shifted the dead bodies and five critically injured girls to hospital.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Maheen’s father Naseem Abbas blamed the organiser, Punjab Group of Colleges’ administration for mismanagement.“Why they allowed more students in the complex when there was not enough space,” he asked.Talking to Express News, an eyewitness Bismah said that a lack of security contributed to the tragic incident. She added that the stampede started when a larger door was opened to let attendees out. Extra people at the venue had caused a rush when the concert ended.
Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of the incident and asked for an immediate inquiry.Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2012.
Usually such disorder occurs when there is a sense of danger in a gathering and some say that this is exactly that was the case. A fake rumor was spread there is a bomb planted about to blow up the whole place. This caused a panicky outburst in the concert attendees and all ran out injuring others in the process.
Another version of events that has come out is fans trying to meet with the singer backstage but due to lack of management things out of hand. Any of these stories could be true. However, some major news sources say that the reason was indeed the venue being overcrowded with around 7000 girls when it could hold far less than that many.
Atif Aslam paid his condolences in the following words
“Today’s incident has left me in a state of shock and dismay. I am deeply saddened by what transpired after mondays concert. My deepest condolences to the victims and their families for the terrible loss that they have suffered and I pray that Allah will help them through this ordeal.”
