At least 24 injured in Karachi due to celebratory firing on New Year

Majority of the incidents took place in Defence, Korangi, Tipu Sultan, Nazimabad, Gulshan areas

KARACHI: Bursts of celebratory gunfire and salvos of cracker booms filled the air of Karachi at the stroke of midnight as the megacity welcomed the New Year.

However, the arrival of 2018 is not without incidents, as more than two dozen people were injured in the aerial firing in the wee hours of Monday.

The injured taken to different hospitals in the city included eight to Jinnah Hospital, six to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and six to the Civil Hospital. Most of casualties came from Defence Society, Korangi, Tipu Sultan, Rizvia, Surjani, Nazimabad and Gulshan areas.



On Friday, the Sindh government issued a notification, placing a ban on aerial firing in the city on New Year’s arrival. On Monday police contingents were deployed on the routes leading to the Sea View. There was huge traffic on the roads to the beaches.

On Monday police arrested one person for selling fireworks, Express News reported. Later in the night, police resorted to baton-charge to disperse the youngsters gathered in the Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad to celebrate the New Year.

In Hyderabad, aerial firing injured two people who were shifted to Civil Hospital. The injured identified as 17-year-old Hasnain and 30-year-old Nasir. Elsewhere in Sindh province, a police crackdown led to the arrest of three people for possessing arms and 15 litres of alcohol.