04 March 2004	Thursday	12 Muharram 1425

PESHAWAR, March 3: A stampede triggered by a power breakdown in a Parachinar Imam Bargah left 13 people dead and more than 50 injured. The victims included eight women and five children who had run in panic after a short circuit caused a blast and plunged the mosque into darkness.

In their bid to reach a safer place, the mourners, who had gathered in large numbers to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, got trapped in a staircase whose railing collapsed under pressure.

The women and children were suffocated or trampled to death. The blackout caused panic among those present on the first story of the building housing the Imam Bargah.

More than 50 persons were injured, of whom 10 were still under treatment at the Agency Headquarters hospital. Three of them were stated to be in a critical condition. The fire was brought under control by firefighters and the local people.

Two other women were killed and 19 of their family members were injured in a road accident in village Zaran, some six kilometres in the north of Parachinar, the headquarters of Kurram Agency, on Tuesday.

The ill-fated vehicle met with a fatal accident as a result of which two of its passengers were killed and 19 others injured. All of them belonged to one family and were heading to an Imam Bargah to attend a gathering in connection with the 10th of Muharram.