Seven killed, 22 injured in road accidents across city

Seven people died and another 22 were injured in road accidents that occurred in various parts of Karachi on Friday. Among the victims were women, who were crushed to death by speeding dumpers and tankers. A water tanker knocked dead a female passer-by near Ganna Mandi, Daewoo bus stand, on the Super Highway.

While traffic police officers are holding meetings with representatives of heavy vehicle associations to ensure city roads are safe, reckless drivers of heavy vehicles continue killing citizens by running them over with impunity.

On Friday night, a water tanker claimed the life of a woman near the Ganna Mandi, Daewoo bus stand, on the Super Highway. The body of the deceased was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for a postmortem examination by volunteers of a rescue service, where she was identified as 35-year-old Saiqa.

Rescue officials said the deceased was accompanied by two other women and they were crossing the road when the water tanker crushed a woman to death. The other two women miraculously survived.

According to initial reports, the driver responsible for the accident fled the scene, abandoning his vehicle. The police are investigating the incident further.

In another incident, a woman riding a motorcycle died and her husband was injured when a speedy water tanker hit them near Korangi Crossing in the Korangi Industrial Area around 10am.

The casualties were shifted to Jinnah Hospital. According to KIA police, the deceased has been identified as a 40-year-old Rehana and her husband as Mushtaq, residents of Korangi’s Ilyas Goth.

The police handed over the body to the heirs after carrying out the necessary procedures. The police impounded the tanker after the incident and arrested the driver, Allah Bakhsh.

Separately, at 12:30pm, a coach coming from Shikarpur to Karachi overturned and fell into a ditch due to the negligence of the driver, who was said to be speeding, near Ghaghar Phatak’s U-turn in the Port Qasim area.

According to SHO Abbasi, four people were killed and more than 20 people were injured in the accident.

On receiving information about the accident, police and volunteers of a welfare organisation reached the spot. The deceased and injured were shifted to Jinnah Hospital.

The deceased were identified as 35-year-old Kausar, wife Saeed, 60-year-old Pana, wife Muhammad Ali, 59-year-old Abdul Ghafoor, son of Muhammad Ismail, and 25-year-old Ghulam Farid, son of Yasin.

The injured include Nawaz Ali, Sajid, Owais, Zameer, Singer Bakhsh, Abdul Ghani, Muhammad Afzal and Majida. According to the SHO, the driver of the bus fled the scene. However, the bus impounded, while the bodies of the deceased have been handed over to the heirs after formalities. At around 5:30am, a motorcyclist died and another was injured in a road accident in Gulshan-e-Hadeed.

According to SHO Tahir Qadri, the driver of a trailer responsible for the fatal collision was arrested and the vehicle was seized. The deceased and the injured were taken to Jinnah Hospital. The deceased was identified as 36-year-old Swab Khan and the injured as 32-year-old Manzoor Hussain, son of Juma Khan.