Afghanistan: several dead and injured in a stampede in a stadium in Jalalabad

Thousands of people gathered in a stadium in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, to obtain a visa for Pakistan on October 21, 2020. REUTERS / Parwiz

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Twelve women were killed and at least a dozen others were injured in a stampede in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday morning.

They were in a stadium in town with hundreds of other people applying for a visa for Pakistan.

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With our correspondent in the region,

Minutes after a deadly stampede at a stadium in Jalalabad,

, women lie on the ground and onlookers cover their lifeless bodies with large tissue.

This moment was captured in images by witnesses and then broadcast on social networks.

It is impossible to know how the deadly stampede began.

Before this one happened, hundreds of people were pressed together, some of them jostling.

They were trying to access tables set by Pakistani consulate employees in a stadium in the city to receive visa applications from Afghans wishing to travel to

neighboring

.

With the Pakistani consular service having resumed in Jalalabad after a seven-month hiatus due to the Covid-19 epidemic, overwhelming numbers at this stadium gathered in the hope of obtaining a visa.

Many Afghans regularly travel to neighboring countries, including Pakistan, especially for health reasons.

The Afghan medical system being deficient, affected by

.

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