Mystery still shrouds around the leakage of deadly toxic gas, which caused the deaths of over 14 people and sickness to over 300 people in Karachi port surrounding areas in Keamari till Tuesday evening.
According to a report by the daily Dawn provincial Local Government minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani addressed a press conference on February 18, and said they were still clueless about the source of the gas and what was its nature. Authorities are still investigating it.
A laboratory report released by the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) indicated that soybean dust (aeroallergens) was found in the samples of those who died on Monday.
The new development of the lab report has further deepened the crisis as the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) authorities denied the release of soybean dust and said a patient who died in a hospital was already admitted to the hospital before the anchorage of the soybean ship.
Although there is no confirmed cause of the deaths, the environmental watchdog Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also blank.
Meanwhile, the residents of Keamari, Jackson and Railway Colony staged a protest demonstration at the main road against authorities on their failure to ascertain the cause of the toxic gas.
