At least 30 women and children died Sunday following a stampede during a female's weekly gathering in Faizan-E-Madina near old Sabzi Mandi of Pakistani port city Karachi, the Geo TV reported.

Twenty-three bodies had been shifted to Liaquat and seven to Jinnah hospital, according to the GEO.

Emergency declared in all hospitals of the city, provincial health minister Shabbir Quaimkhani said.
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The governor of Sindh province sent grief over loss of live tragedy to the bereaved families, the GEO reported.

The stampede occurred as a result of disorderliness when thousands of women were leaving for home after the religious gathering ended, the GEO TV reports said.

The congregation was held with regard to the holy month of Rabi-ul-Awwal, and the cause of deaths was suffocation following the stampede, the GEO said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2006)