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SUKKUR: Six people have suffocated to death during the Muharram 9 procession on Rohri, upper Sindh.
The mourning procession started in the morning and as usual attracted thousands of people.
Rohri is a small city and its alleyways are quite narrow. The weather was also quite humid, which added to the conditions.
These six people were taken to hospital by NGO vehicles taking part as part-emergency services.
Twenty camps were set up along the route to provide first aid. Security is stiff with three army companies, 1,400 police officers, 250 rangers, walk-through gates, snap checking. There are 50 CCTV cameras and a control room to monitor the procession.
People come from all over Pakistan for this procession because it is revered for having raised a Karbala tazia for over five hundred years. There is a special ritual connected to this tazia, which is raised at 3am in the city where the lights are completely turned off. The tazia is taken out in darkness and people come from all over Pakistan to shoulder it.
Strict security arrangements were made countrywide and mobile services remained suspended in some areas as processions to observe Muharram 9 would be taken out in several cities on Monday.