Speed thrills, but…: Barriers to block rally claim two lives

Police officials say they had placed diversion signs but bikers sped past them

ISLAMABAD: Two young men were killed early on Friday morning when their sports bike rammed into a concrete traffic barrier — placed by the Islamabad Traffic Police to block the road for the Khatam-e-Nabuwat rally — near Jinnah Avenue.

According to the eyewitnesses, the incident took place when the two youngsters were riding through at high speeds.

The brothers-in-law, identified as Suleman Saleem and Arsalan Malik, were riding a BMW S1000RR and a Yamaha R1 respectively.

As soon as their bikes rammed into a concrete traffic barrier, both the bikes caught fire.

One of them sustained severe head injuries and died on the spot. The other, whose elbow had caught the barricade died a few minutes after the incident.

Police officials said that the bodies were shifted to the hospital soon after the incident and later were handed over to the families.

As news and pictures of the tragic incident spread, social media groups and pages dedicated to bikers in the capital were flooded with the condolence messages.

According to posts shared by relatives and friends of the two deceased on Facebook, most  have held officials of the Islamabad Police and Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) responsible for the tragic incident since appropriate road signs or reflectors were not installed to clearly mark the presence of concrete barriers placed on one of the fast lanes. They were of the view that this was the second time such an accident has taken place in the capital where police placed barricades in the middle of the road which led to the loss of lives.

They requested the government to investigate the matter and take necessary action against the officials involved and should come up with a cohesive strategy to avoid tragic accidents in the future.

According to the family, Saleem had married Malik’s sister last year and had become a father to a baby girl earlier in April.

On Thursday night, their family said, the two of them had gone out with their friends to celebrate a family occasion.

“The sudden death of both youngsters has shattered all of us and we all are still in a state of shock, it is hard to believe that both of them are not among us,” said one of their friends who wished not to be named.

The funeral of both men was offered on Friday morning which was attended by a large number of people.

ITP SSP Malik Matloob told The Express Tribune that both the bikers were riding down Jinnah Avenue near Centaraus Mall and were over-speeding.

He defended the lack of road signs by saying that the ITP had placed signs near the Kulsoom Hospital directing motorists to take alternative routes since the road ahead was blocked.

Moreover, he said that safety cones had been placed on the road to deter drivers while an ITP van was also parked with reflecting tapes to mark off the area.

“Unfortunately, both of them were speeding and ignored all these traffic signs,” he said.

ICCI wants better reflectors

The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Friday expressed concerns over the rising number of accidents in Islamabad due to the absence of reflectors on speed breakers and concrete barriers placed on the roads.

Pointing to the accident, ICCI President Sheikh Amir Waheed urged ITP to immediately place reflectors at all such barriers to avoid tragic accidents.

He added that whenever any political party or any other organisation announces plans to stage a rally in the capital, the city closed down by placing containers and barriers on roads.

“This situation badly damages the business activities and creates a lot of problems for patients and the citizens,” Waheed said in a statement.

ICCI Senior Vice President Muhammad Naveed and ICCI Vice President Nisar Mirza said that ICT Traffic Police should arrange for reflectors and warning signs on containers placed on roads as well as at all U-turns in the city so that night travellers' are more careful and avoid any unfortunate accidents.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2017.