Twelve people have died in a crush in Pakistan while attempting to collect free food during Ramadan.

The incident happened as people rushed to collect food and cash outside a factory in the southern port city of Karachi on Friday.

Business owners often hand out cash and food during the Islamic holy month.

Police say nine women, aged between 40 and 80, and three children, aged 10 to 15, died in the crush.

Eight people, including the factory manager, have been arrested following the charity event.

Police say local authorities were not told about the giveaway before it took place.

Local police official Mughees Hashmi said the crowds began to panic and some women and children fell into an open drain.

Residents also said a wall collapsed near the drain, injuring and killing people.

Police spokesman Dr Hafeez Bugti added: “Factory management did not open the inside gate of the factory and, due to the narrow street, the people at the tail of the line pushed elderly women and children.

“As a result, pressure increased enormously, and women and children became the victims of the stampede.”

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The chief minister of Sindh province, where Karachi is located, announced compensation for people injured in the crush and relatives of the victims.

Murad Ali Shah said each family who lost a loved one will receive 500,000 rupees (£1,400), while everyone injured will receive 100,000 rupees (£285).

Funerals were held on Saturday for some of the victims.

At least 23 people have died in Ramadan “food stampedes” since the start of the holy month.

On Saturday, police fired tear gas at crowds who had gathered to receive free flour in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif launched an initiative to distribute free flour among low-income families to ease the impact of record-breaking inflation and soaring poverty during the holy month.

His coalition government is facing the country’s worst economic crisis, with soaring inflation, rising food costs and soaring fuel bills – a culmination of years of political turmoil and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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