F.P. Report
KARACHI: Sindh Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah on Wednesday said there was no need for an immediate evacuation from the city’s Keamari area in the aftermath of the suspected gas leak over the weekend.
“An investigative team under Commissioner Karachi has been constituted,” Shah told.
“Till the committee presents its reports, it is impossible to say anything,” the provincial minister said, adding, the situation in the Keamari area did not merit an evacuation.
He added that those by the poisonous gas were being treated at hospitals in the metropolis.
The death toll from the suspected gas leak in the city’s Keamari locality rose to 14 on Tuesday with more than 25 affected people brought to the hospital on Wednesday morning.
Separately Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar told Geo Pakistan that he was not informed about the incident at a government level. “Neither the Sindh government nor the federal government informed me about the situation. What I know about the situation in Keamari is from what I have seen on the television,” Akhtar said.
Criticising the provincial and the federal government, Akhtar said the two governments should have taken the public into confidence over the incident. “They should have come on TV and informed the public about the cause of the gas leak.”
“Neither the Sindh or the federal government seem serious about the situation,” he noted.
When asked what the government planned to do for the families of the deceased and those affected, the mayor said the government did not have money to pay salaries.
A day earlier, a Sindh health department spokesperson had said the lethal chemical had not been identified yet, The News had earlier reported that authorities suspected it was hydrogen sulphide — a highly poisonous gas that is a byproduct of crude oil and also generated in the sewerage system.
Dozens of sick were still being treated at various public and private hospitals in the city due to toxic gas inhalation and what is now being believed as the outcome of a soybean dust allergy.
A chemical examiner’s report is expected to be released today.
‘Death most likely caused by soybean dust’
Renowned scientist Dr Atta-ur-Rahman told Geo News programme, “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath” that the deaths were most likely caused by soybean dust that contains potentially lethal allergens.
Globally, soybean is one of the eight food items that cause serious, sometimes lethal, allergy, Dr Rehman said adding that the required safeguards were not there during the unloading process of the consignment at the port.
He said the ship carrying the consignment must be kept at the outer anchorage.
Soybean dust found in blood samples: report
A report compiled by the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) at Karachi University found aeroallergen from soybean dust in blood samples collected from people who died after the suspected gas leakage in the city’s Keamari area.
According to the sources, the report mentioned that Spain experienced a similar incident of soybean dust poisoning two years ago that affected numerous people in the country.
Senator Murtaza Wahab tweeted that preliminary reports submitted by experts at the Karachi University had claimed that the Keamari incident happened due to “overexposure of soybean dust”.
“Preliminary report has been submitted by experts at Khi Uni which suggests that Keamari incident happened due to overexposure of soybean dust which is known to have also caused similar incidents in other parts of the world. This soybean is in a shipment docked at Khi Port,” he tweeted.
Panic grips port area
On Tuesday residents of the area surrounding Karachi Port, including Keamari, protested against the rising death toll from the suspected toxic gas leakage, as well as the growing number of people affected by the health disaster.
The demonstrators — including traders and the neighbourhood’s business community — blocked various roads and held a sit-in on key routes near Jackson Market and nearby areas, bringing traffic to a standstill. Traffic police said vehicles were being rerouted to alternative streets.
Traders Association Vice-Chairperson Muhammad Asif Khan said there had been no satisfactory efforts to ascertain the cause of and prevent further deaths from the alleged gas leak despite the incident being reported first some 48 hours ago.
People were seen wearing face masks, parents were not sending their children to the schools that remained open, and shop-owners were forced to close down their businesses and protest, while many others had decided to move their families away from the area.
