Speeding tanker kills teenager, injures family members

Neighbours conducted rescue operation themselves


Our Correspondent November 21, 2017
The deceased and injured have been taken to Jinnah Hospital. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: A teenager was crushed to death while her family members were injured on Tuesday when a speeding tanker hit them while they were asleep inside their home in Korangi Industrial Area.

The accident took place when the family was asleep inside their home located at Darul Uloom Colony, within the limits of the Awami Colony police station. "A speeding oil tanker crushed them after it collided with the walls of their house," said witnesses. They added that the driver and cleaner managed to escape the scene.

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Upon hue and cry, a score of neighbours gathered at the spot and started a rescue operation themselves. Ambulances from different welfare associations also reached the site and shifted the victims to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. However, a sixteen-year-old girl, identified as Naureen, daughter of Nazeer succumbed to her injuries.

The injured included Abdul Hakeem, his wife Fatima and their children, Kamran, Shumaila, Naila, Sohail, Noman, Farman and Adnan.

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"Hakeem's house had two portions, one was occupied by his family while the other was rented by Naureen and her family," a resident of the neighbourhood said. Naureen was the eldest among three siblings and her marriage was scheduled in January, said her father, Nazeer. "We had planned her marriage in our hometown, Bhawalnagar," he added. Her mother, a garment factory worker, was the only breadwinner of the house.

The family said that they did not want to register a case, however, they only wanted compensation so that they could take the body to their hometown for burial.

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The situation turned violent when neighbours gathered and tried to stop the police team from removing the oil tanker from the site. A scuffle broke out between the police and the residents. An extra contingent of the police was called to disperse the protesters. The police resorted to aerial firing, baton-charging and tear gas shelling to disperse the crowd. The protesters resisted and pelted the police with stones. "We want the driver to be arrested immediately," demanded the mob. The demonstrators said that they would not let the police remove the tanker until the culprit was caught.

The driver was drunk as liquor bottles and drugs were found from the tanker, said the residents. Meanwhile, the police managed to disperse the protesters after a local political party leader intervened and assured the protesters of justice.

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SHO Nasir Mehmood said that the police used force when the protesters took the law into their own hands. He added that besides creating hurdles, they attacked the police. A case was registered and further investigation was initiated, said the police.  However, the driver was not arrested till the filing of this news story.

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