2 die in Pak I-Day stampede

The 50th Independence Day celebrations in Pakistan on Thursday were marred by a stampede in Karachi in which two persons were killed and scores injured.

Reports said the police had to open fire to disperse a crowd outside Mohammed Ali Jinnah's tomb. The crowd reacted violently after batons were used to control them, the reports said.

It was not immediately clear whether the two men died due to the stampede or in the firing. Among the many people reportedly injured was a paramilitary ranger deployed there as part of the heavy security arrangement.

The crowd had gathered at the mazar to watch the Independence jubilee functions.

In the afternoon, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief and President Farooq Leghari visited the tomb.

In his speech, the prime minister had urged people to end the cycle of sectarian violence affecting most parts of the country.

The day was otherwise marked by festive mood all around. A number of functions were organised in the capital and other cities.

In the capital, Nawaz Sharief hoisted the national flag in front of the Parliament House. He also inaugurated the country's first indigenously built missile-carrier ship ''PNS Jalalat'', constructed at a cost of Rs 730 million. Officials said the ship was built at the Karachi shipyard.

He later flew to Lahore to lay a wreath on the mazar of poet-philosopher Mohammad Iqbal, who is considered one of the original ''conceivers'' of the idea of a separate state of Pakistan.

AP