Poisonous gas leak kills six in Karachi. (file photo)

At least six were killed and 50 were hospitalized after a suspected poisonous gas spread overnight in a neighborhood near the seaport in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi, rescue officials said on Monday.

Panic and fear gripped the town of Keamari where people complained of a gas spreading and started wearing face masks for protection.

The cause of the incident was not immediately known. People who faced breathing problems were brought to hospital.

Residents and victims claimed that a poisonous gas had leaked from one of the ships at the seaport in which some chemicals had been stored to preserve vegetables, local media reported.

A spokesperson for the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) denied such rumors, saying that no such ship had arrived at the port.

(Source: Reuters)