Four-year-old’s murder sparks people’s ire in Karachi
Mob sets buses on fire after girl crushed to death during race
The girl killed in the accident was two days short of her fifth birthday. PHOTO: INP
KARACHI:
Four-year-old Sakina was on her way to school on Friday morning. The little girl had planned a few things for her weekend, including her fifth birthday party, but her dreams came to an abrupt end when she lost her life.
Sakina was killed due to impact when a reckless bus driver racing on MA Jinnah Road hit the motorcycle she was travelling on.
Seeing the body of the young child crushed under the wheels of the bus, passers-by and other motorists stopped and set two buses on fire. The resulting blaze blocked the flow of traffic on the busy road.
Sakina was travelling to school at around 7:35am with her father, Huzaifa, 30, from their house in the Ranchore Lines area of Saddar. She was crushed to death by the speeding bus while her father was also critically injured in the accident.
“The accident took place when one of two buses racing on MA Jinnah Road hit a motorcycle,” said a nearby shopkeeper, Tariq Ayub. “The father of the girl fell onto the footpath after the bus hit his motorcycle but his daughter, who was sitting on the motorcycle’s fuel tank, was crushed to death under the wheels of the bus.”
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Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the incident has been circulating on social media. It shows the father shocked after he sees his minor daughter crushed under the wheels of the bus. A crowd of people gathered at the spot and called the ambulances and the police.
The victims were immediately taken to Civil Hospital, Karachi, but the girl died on the spot. The driver and conductor of the bus that hit the motorcycle managed to flee after the accident, escaping the mob’s fury.
The people who gathered at the site bashed the windows of the two buses and set the vehicles ablaze. They even attacked the fire brigade vehicles that arrived to douse the flames. The mob also blocked the road, pelting passing vehicles with stones.
Police arrived at the scene to control the increasingly violent crowd. The law enforcers caught nearly 11 people from the spot for setting the buses on fire and disturbing law and order situation. A score of people also staged a protest against the bus drivers as well as the police and held them responsible for the accident.
“This is not the first time these buses have taken someone’s life,” cried one of the protesters. “Racing between bus and rickshaw drivers is common on the roads of Karachi but the police, instead of taking action against them, just accept bribes.”
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Backed up by the CCTV footage, the protesters claimed that a police mobile was there at the time of the accident but, instead of taking action against the driver and conductor, just moved on.
Later in the evening, the police claimed to have arrested the driver and owner of the bus. “We have arrested both the driver, Saleem, and the owner, Azam, during separate raids,” Saddar Division SP Tauqeer Muhammad Naeem said. “The accident took place because of reckless driving, as two public transport buses were racing each other. When they reached near Tibet Centre, the 4-K route bus tried to overtake another bus on the wrong side of the street, hitting the motorcycle.”
He said that the police have also obtained the CCTV footage and are identifying rioters through it. The rioters are being booked for torching the buses.
Not an isolated incident
Separately, 10-year-old Mehsan, son of Saffal Shah, also lost his life when a speeding oil tanker hit him near his house in Macchar Colony. The victim was shifted to Civil Hospital, Karachi but died on the way.
Police officials said that the accident took place when the victim was trying to cross the road and a speeding oil tanker hit and killed him, adding that the tanker driver managed to escape.
Karachi’s only traffic accident data compilation project shuts down
Karachi has witnessed a series of accidents in less than a week. A couple of days ago, a young girl lost her life while she was asleep inside her house in Ibrahim Hyderi. A speeding oil tanker crashed into the wall of her house, killing her and wounding 10 others.
“It is the mind-set of the drivers. You can call it a ‘drivers’ adventure’. Sometimes they do it [racing] to get passengers first,” explained Traffic DIG Imran Yaqoob Minhas. “Usually, Rs500 is the fine for the reckless driving or driver’s negligence but sometime, we fine them [drivers] Rs2,000.” He said that a number of drivers are being fined on a daily basis for over speeding, racing and over taking.
Four-year-old Sakina was on her way to school on Friday morning. The little girl had planned a few things for her weekend, including her fifth birthday party, but her dreams came to an abrupt end when she lost her life.
Sakina was killed due to impact when a reckless bus driver racing on MA Jinnah Road hit the motorcycle she was travelling on.
Seeing the body of the young child crushed under the wheels of the bus, passers-by and other motorists stopped and set two buses on fire. The resulting blaze blocked the flow of traffic on the busy road.
Sakina was travelling to school at around 7:35am with her father, Huzaifa, 30, from their house in the Ranchore Lines area of Saddar. She was crushed to death by the speeding bus while her father was also critically injured in the accident.
“The accident took place when one of two buses racing on MA Jinnah Road hit a motorcycle,” said a nearby shopkeeper, Tariq Ayub. “The father of the girl fell onto the footpath after the bus hit his motorcycle but his daughter, who was sitting on the motorcycle’s fuel tank, was crushed to death under the wheels of the bus.”
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Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the incident has been circulating on social media. It shows the father shocked after he sees his minor daughter crushed under the wheels of the bus. A crowd of people gathered at the spot and called the ambulances and the police.
The victims were immediately taken to Civil Hospital, Karachi, but the girl died on the spot. The driver and conductor of the bus that hit the motorcycle managed to flee after the accident, escaping the mob’s fury.
The people who gathered at the site bashed the windows of the two buses and set the vehicles ablaze. They even attacked the fire brigade vehicles that arrived to douse the flames. The mob also blocked the road, pelting passing vehicles with stones.
Police arrived at the scene to control the increasingly violent crowd. The law enforcers caught nearly 11 people from the spot for setting the buses on fire and disturbing law and order situation. A score of people also staged a protest against the bus drivers as well as the police and held them responsible for the accident.
“This is not the first time these buses have taken someone’s life,” cried one of the protesters. “Racing between bus and rickshaw drivers is common on the roads of Karachi but the police, instead of taking action against them, just accept bribes.”
Government negligent towards local motorcycle manufacturers
Backed up by the CCTV footage, the protesters claimed that a police mobile was there at the time of the accident but, instead of taking action against the driver and conductor, just moved on.
Later in the evening, the police claimed to have arrested the driver and owner of the bus. “We have arrested both the driver, Saleem, and the owner, Azam, during separate raids,” Saddar Division SP Tauqeer Muhammad Naeem said. “The accident took place because of reckless driving, as two public transport buses were racing each other. When they reached near Tibet Centre, the 4-K route bus tried to overtake another bus on the wrong side of the street, hitting the motorcycle.”
He said that the police have also obtained the CCTV footage and are identifying rioters through it. The rioters are being booked for torching the buses.
Not an isolated incident
Separately, 10-year-old Mehsan, son of Saffal Shah, also lost his life when a speeding oil tanker hit him near his house in Macchar Colony. The victim was shifted to Civil Hospital, Karachi but died on the way.
Police officials said that the accident took place when the victim was trying to cross the road and a speeding oil tanker hit and killed him, adding that the tanker driver managed to escape.
Karachi’s only traffic accident data compilation project shuts down
Karachi has witnessed a series of accidents in less than a week. A couple of days ago, a young girl lost her life while she was asleep inside her house in Ibrahim Hyderi. A speeding oil tanker crashed into the wall of her house, killing her and wounding 10 others.
“It is the mind-set of the drivers. You can call it a ‘drivers’ adventure’. Sometimes they do it [racing] to get passengers first,” explained Traffic DIG Imran Yaqoob Minhas. “Usually, Rs500 is the fine for the reckless driving or driver’s negligence but sometime, we fine them [drivers] Rs2,000.” He said that a number of drivers are being fined on a daily basis for over speeding, racing and over taking.