At least 14 women and children have been killed in a stampede to get free flour in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, officials say. Dozens more were injured in the crush, reports say. The flour was being handed out in a poor, congested neighbourhood of the city by a private group as part of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Pakistani TV showed distraught relatives arriving at a hospital where the injured had been taken.
Some of the victims suffocated in the stampede and others were trampled, officials said. They said an earlier death toll of 18 had been revised down.
The BBC's Arman Sabir in Karachi reports that the unexpected arrival of large numbers of people was a key cause of the tragedy. Later, crowding and congestion at the site made it difficult for ambulances and rescue workers to get through, he says.
Relatives gathered at the hospital where the dead and injured were taken
The incident took place at Khori Garden in central Karachi, near the waterfront.
The area is lined with narrow streets where wholesalers operate warehouses of wheat, grain, pulses and other such goods. During Ramadan long traffic jams are common and a profusion of vendors adds to congestion.
Many Muslims hand out food to the poor during Ramadan, the most sacred month of the Islamic calendar, which ends next week.
Our correspondent says prices for staple goods have risen sharply in Karachi, and the government appears unable to provide relief to increasing numbers of people affected by poverty.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his shock at the loss of life and has ordered an immediate inquiry, the Pakistani APP news agency reported.