Toxic gas tragedy: Cargo movements at ports stay suspended

• Four customs officials fell unconscious due to mysterious toxic gas leakage.
• A large number of people residing nearby areas are facing eye and throat infections.

All inward and outward movements of cargos at Karachi ports remained suspended Monday as Pakistan Customs has shut all its operations after its four customs officials fell unconscious due to mysterious toxic gas leakage.

The incident of spilling over mysterious toxic gas took place on Sunday night that left at least five persons from Keamari dead due to acute respiratory issues while over 100 other were also adversely affected. However, a large number of people residing nearby areas are facing eye and throat infections. The resons behind this massive gas leakage are yet to be ascertained.

However, the impact of this mysterious toxic gas remained intense on Monday morning, leaving four customs officials at Customs House unconscious that triggered the customs authority to declare emergency and evacuate all staff from Customs offices and ports that led to the suspension of all customs operations.

Several unconfirmed news were circulating throughout the day. Some of the stakeholders believed that one of the fumigation companies sprayed methyl bromide on open cargo of secondhand cloths at West Wharf to prevent the outbreak spreading novel coronavirus in the city that caused the said incident while others opined that myriad quantity of toxic gas might have spilled by a vessel, which was berthed on Sunday night.

The Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Pakistan International Containers Terminal and SAPT ruled out the possibilities of toxic gas leakage from their respective terminals.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Ali Zaidi, expressed grief over the loss of lives and directed the port authorities to investigate the incident. He said a team of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence (NBCD) under Pakistan Navy was engaged in chemical analysis of the unidentified gas. While visiting a private hospital, Zaidi said most of those hospitalized are asthma patients.