Sialkot mehndi stampede death toll rises to two as police arrest six and seize prize vehicles
Sialkot police said on Sunday that a second man had died after the stampede at TikToker Muhammad Ansar Jatt’s mehndi event, taking the toll to two with 18 people injured, six suspects arrested and the car and 50 motorcycles meant for a lucky draw taken into custody.
The death toll from the stampede at a TikToker’s mehndi ceremony in Sialkot has risen to two, police said on Sunday, a day after a crowd surge at a prize-distribution event on Daska Road turned a wedding celebration into a rescue operation. Sialkot police said 18 people were injured in total and that six suspects involved in managing the event had been arrested, with a case registered at Motra Police Station and the vehicles intended for a lucky draw taken into custody.
The stampede broke out on Saturday night at Faraz Cricket Ground on Daska Road, where a large crowd had gathered for the mehndi ceremony of Muhammad Ansar Jatt, widely known on social media as “Mr Pattlo”. According to police and Rescue 1122, the crush happened when the venue gates were opened and people waiting outside tried to enter at the same time, pushing forward in a sudden surge in which several people fell to the ground and were trampled by those behind them.
The first victim was identified as 30-year-old Muhammad Aqeel, who died while being taken to hospital after suffering critical injuries in the crush. A second injured man later died in hospital, police said on Sunday, taking the death toll to two. The injured were taken to Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital in Sialkot, where rescue teams and police carried out a joint operation after the incident was reported.
The casualty figures have shifted as the picture has become clearer, and the different counts are worth setting out plainly. Rescue 1122 initially reported one death and 13 to 14 injured on Saturday night. On Sunday, Sialkot police put the number of injured at 18. Some local residents claimed the true number was higher, saying more than 40 people were hurt and that several victims were taken to nearby private hospitals and clinics by other attendees rather than by rescue teams. That higher figure has not been confirmed by police or Rescue 1122, and it should not be treated as an official count.
The size of the crowd was central to what happened. The event combined a wedding celebration with a prize-distribution ceremony, and the promise of a car and 50 motorcycles in a lucky draw, publicised through social media, drew people from well beyond Sialkot itself. Rescue officials listed injured men from districts including Narowal, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Khanewal, Okara, Gujrat and Bahawalpur as well as Sialkot, showing how far the open invitation had travelled.
Police action followed quickly. A case was registered at Motra Police Station against nominated suspects including Jatt and other event organisers, along with dozens of unidentified people, and six people had been arrested by Sunday, according to police and district administration accounts. Officers also seized the 50 motorcycles and the car that had been intended for the lucky draw. Reports of the case describe charges relating to causing death through negligence, violating official orders, unlawful assembly and related offences, but those are allegations at this stage: they have not been tested in court, and the investigation will determine who bears responsibility.
The rescue response itself has also come under scrutiny. Sialkot District Emergency Officer Engineer Naveed Iqbal said Rescue 1122 had not been informed in advance about the large gathering planned at the cricket ground, and that four ambulances and a motorcycle ambulance took part in the operation once the alarm was raised. The point matters because a gathering of this scale, announced publicly in advance, would normally be expected to have medical cover and crowd-control arrangements agreed beforehand.
The district administration has also moved on the permissions side. Sialkot Deputy Commissioner Awais Mushtaq revoked a no-objection certificate that had been issued for a separate enclosed gathering in the Daska area, in a pre-emptive step after the stampede, according to police and administration accounts reported on Sunday. The move signals that officials are now looking beyond the single event to other planned gatherings in the area while the investigation continues.
The incident raises a wider question about large public events organised around social-media personalities in Pakistan. An open invitation, a popular host and high-value prizes can draw a crowd far larger than the one an organiser has planned for, and when entry is controlled by a single gate opening, the moment of entry itself becomes the most dangerous point. Whether crowd management, security staffing and emergency cover at this event matched the crowd it attracted is now one of the central questions for investigators.
What happens next will unfold on several tracks. Police are still working to arrest the remaining nominated suspects, forensic and medical records will help establish the precise causes of the two deaths, and the courts will decide whether the charges in the case are proved. The families of the dead and injured, meanwhile, are left with hospital bills and funerals rather than a celebration. For other organisers, the Sialkot stampede is already a warning: a public invitation is also a public responsibility, and the consequences of getting crowd control wrong can be fatal.
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