Multan, Mar 15: Seven Shiite Muslims died in Pakistan as they flagellated themselves with knives and chains during the annual Ashura ceremony to commemorate Moharram, hospital and community officials said today. The deaths occurred due to "excessive bleeding," hospital officials said. Local Shiite community spokesman Syed Gulzar Abbas Naqvi said the fatalities were reported from the central Pakistani city of Multan and nearby towns.
"They reached hospital too late and at some places the mourners also refused to receive the first aid," Naqvi said. The Shiite community, which forms 20 per cent of Pakistan's Sunni-dominated population of 140 million, observed Ashura yesterday to commemorate the death of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussain.
Thousands of Shiites took part in mourning processions across the country, beating their chests as they chanted "Hussain, Hussain" to mark the annual ritual which is observed on the tenth day of the Muslim holy month of Moharram. Groups of mourners at several places thrashed themselves with knives, chains and swords in expression of grief.
Bureau Report