According to witnesses, people flocked to the designated health centre to receive free flour under a government scheme and went on a rampage due to the "delayed and unjust distribution."
Pakistan's Dera Ghazi Khan division's Commissioner said that the allocated quota of free flour for deserving dwellers of the Dera Ghazi Khan division was 500,000 bags, whereas the actual demand is 850,000 flour bags.
As per The News International, the first stampede took place in Sahiwal when a large number of people showed up to get free flour with women also standing in long queues. As the time passed on, the crowd became impatient, which caused a stampede with everyone trying to get flour bag.