Heavy vehicle accident claims another life in Karachi

KARACHI: One more citizen lost his life as the distressful trend of deadly accidents involving heavy vehicles continues in the city.

Police on Sunday said a person was killed in Karachi's Baldia Town Sector 8 area after being hit by a speeding water tanker. Immediately following the crash, the water tanker's driver fled away. However, law enforcement officials have managed to seize the vehicle, they added.

In a separate incident in the Baldia’s Naval Colony area, a dumper truck collided with a rickshaw, leaving five persons, including two women, injured. The driver of the dumper also escaped from the scene following the accident.

The incidents highlight the increasing danger posed by heavy vehicles on Karachi's arteries. Fatal accidents are taking place every now and then even after the government’s imposition of multiple restrictions on heavy traffic in the megalopolis.

In one such mishap, a woman was killed on April 14 when a bus collided with a motorcycle near Orangi Town No 5, said police.

The woman's body was transferred to a local hospital for medico-legal formalities.

Police said they have arrested the bus driver and lodged a case against him.

More than 85 people have lost their lives in accidents involving heavy vehicles in Karachi this year.

The alarming rise in fatalities has sparked widespread public outrage and protests, with the public even resorting to torching heavy vehicles involved in accidents.

In one such incident earlier this month, enraged citizens set fire to several dumper trucks at different locations after a speeding dumper truck crushed two motorbikes in the North Karachi area.

On April 13, a mob set ablaze a vehicle involved in an accident in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area near Disco Bakery which resulted in one fatality.

The police later took the driver and three others into custody and further detained multiple people for setting the vehicle on fire.