Two dead in stampede at TikToker's Sialkot event, six held

Sialkot police said on Sunday that they had arrested six people and registered a case after a stampede at a TikToker’s mehndi (henna) event on Friday night, in which two people have died, Dawn reported.

What happened

TikToker Muhammad Ansar Jatt, known as “Mr Pattlo”, had announced a mehndi event and prize-distribution ceremony at Faraz Cricket Ground on Daska Road. Hundreds of people gathered, and a stampede broke out when the stadium gates opened. Rescue 1122 first said one man had died and 13 were injured, though residents put the number of injured higher, since many were taken to nearby hospitals by people at the event. On Sunday the police said 18 people were injured, and that one of them had died of his injuries in a government hospital, raising the death toll to two.

Police said Jatt left the scene immediately after the incident, and that raid and investigation teams are trying to find him. They have taken 50 motorcycles and a car, meant to be given out in Friday’s lucky draw, into custody.

What the police say went wrong

District Police Officer Dost Muhammad confirmed the arrest of six people who helped manage the event. According to preliminary findings, the organisers advertised a lucky draw on social media, promising prizes such as motorcycles, a car and other valuables, which drew a very large crowd. During the event an announcement over the loudspeakers told everyone to enter the grounds at the same time, and this simultaneous entry set off the stampede. The DPO said the organisers broke the terms of their permit and standard safety procedures. The crush also disrupted traffic on the main Daska-Sialkot Road, and there were reports of unruly behaviour and damage to public and private property.

“Negligence regarding safety arrangements at any public gathering or event which puts human lives at risk cannot be permitted,” he said, promising action against all those responsible “without any discrimination”. Police teams have been formed to find the remaining suspects using “modern technology, human intelligence sources, and traditional policing methods”.

The permit

A district administration spokesperson said a no-objection certificate (NOC) had been issued to the TikToker for a mehfil-i-samaa, a gathering of devotional music or poetry, at a private event in an enclosed space in Daska, to begin after the Isha prayers on Friday. The administration said it received reports of irregularities in the arrangements as early as 4pm and that Deputy Commissioner Awais Mushtaq cancelled the NOC. The event, the spokesperson said, was called off before it could begin.

The FIR

The first information report (FIR), dated October 31 and seen by Dawn, was registered at Motra police station on the complaint of Inspector Mubeen Ahmed. It names Jatt, his brother, the owner of Faraz Cricket Ground, six other organisers and 40 to 45 unidentified security guards. It cites sections of the Pakistan Penal Code including 322 (causing death by mistake), 188, 148, 149, 431, 440 and 109, as well as Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order law. The charges are allegations; none of the accused has been tried.

Why it matters

The sequence the police describe is a free-prize promise on social media that drew a crowd, gates opened at once and an announcement telling everyone to rush in, at an event whose permit, according to the administration, was for something else. For the families of the two dead, the question is who was responsible for crowd control, and the FIR names the owner of the ground and the security guards as well as the TikToker. The things to watch are whether Jatt is arrested, what the investigation finds about how the event was organised and advertised, and whether district administrations tighten the rules for large events announced on social media.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn.