ISLAMABAD, Feb 17 (NNN-APP) – An unknown poisonous gas, leaked from a container at a port in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi, killing at least five people, while 70 others fainted, local police said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police of South Karachi, Sharjeel Kharal, told media that the gas leaked, when workers were unloading a chemical-loaded container from a ship, docked at the Kemari area of Karachi port.
Chief of a private rescue service, Faisal Edhi, told media that rescue workers, wearing gas masks rushed to the site and shifted the bodies and the injured to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Jinnah Hospital in the city.
The chief feared, the death toll might further rise because several of the affected people are in serious condition.
According to local media reports, hundreds of people ran away from the affected area after the gas leak.
Hundreds of police personnel cordoned off the area and are searching for any other affected people.
Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Ali Zaidi, said, the cause of the gas leak is not known yet, adding that, a high-level team has been formed to investigate the matter.
