Minor girl, driver injured as school van catches fire

A school-going minor girl and a man sustained burn injuries on Friday after a high-roof van caught fire in Sector 35-A of Korangi No. 4.

According to police, the van driver, Shoaib, was dropping kids home after school when a fire suddenly erupted apparently due to a short circuit. Shoaib quickly tried to put the fire out and to get the children out of the van and suffered injuries in the process. Nearby police and rescue teams also arrived at the site and helped.

Along with Shoaib, seven-year-old Tehzeeb suffered minor injuries in the incident. The remaining children remained unhurt and the police later dropped them home in the police mobile.

The injured were shifted to the Burns Ward of the Civil Hospital, Karachi where, according to doctors, their condition was out of danger. According to SHO Enayatullah Marwat, the fire erupted at the back of the van. He added the vehicle did not have a gas cylinder installed.

IGP Dr Syed Kaleem Imam has also taken notice of the incident and directed the traffic DIG to submit a report. This was the second similar incident to have occurred in Karachi this month. Earlier on January 6 a school van caught fire in Orangi Town, injuring eight children.

Following the Orangi Town incident, the traffic police had launched a crackdown against the CNG and LPG cylinders installed in school vans and removed hundreds of cylinders during the crackdown which was also opposed by the school van drivers’ associations.