Man crushed to death by trailer

The 25-year-old victim was alive for at least two hours but could not be rescued

KARACHI: Yasin Nazim was ecstatic. He had recently found out his wife was pregnant. The eldest of four siblings, he had married a year ago.

On Wednesday morning, the 25-year-old had returned to his house in Landhi from work and was sitting outside when a trailer spun out of control and crushed him to death. Yasin, barely breathing, was stuck under the heavy tyres of the trailer for over two hours before his body could be retrieved. During this time, no rescue team reached the site to help with the salvage efforts.

Meanwhile, Yasin's family and neighbours made frantic efforts to save him but all their efforts were in vain because the trailer was too heavy to be moved. Ultimately, they summoned a crane to lift the trailer and get his body out. "There was no one except the police to help us get him out from under the trailer," said a neighbour, Zeeshan Khan, who was among the helpers.

The incident sparked anger among the family, friends and other residents of the area, who took to Landhi Road to protest. As a result, the major thoroughfare was blocked for several hours by placing tyres in the middle. A large contingent of law enforcers reached the site to negotiate with the protesters but the latter would not be placated.

They resolved to continue the protest until justice was served. The victim's mother urged Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar to take notice of the incident. "The policemen at Murtaza Chowrangi and Landhi number four take money and let the heavy traffic pass through," she claimed. "The traffic police are responsible for the incident and they should be meted out the same punishment as the trailer's driver."

The victim's father recalled how happy his son had been after hearing the news of his wife's pregnancy. "My son was stuck under the heavy trailer for at least two hours but we could not do anything to save him." The family said he could have been saved had the government machinery arrived on time.

Yasin used to work the night shift as a machine operator in the printing press of a local Urdu newspaper in Korangi Industrial Area. The incident took place at around 5:30am when he was sitting outside his residence after coming home from work. "It was his routine to stay outside the house after coming from work," reminisced his friend, Anus. "He used to deliver newspapers to homes after coming from his printing press as he had to make more money now that he was going to be a father."

According to police officials, the trailer spun out of control and fell into the nullah, where it remained stuck till late evening. "We have called heavy machinery to retrieve it from the nullah," said Landhi SHO Sarwar Commando. "Now we are registering a case over the accident."

Meanwhile, traffic police officials said that the accident was caused by the breaking of the trailer's tyre rod. "The trailer went out of control of the driver after its tyre rod broke," explained District Landhi Traffic Police SSP Ejaz Hashmi. He added that the driver should not have taken that route as it is prohibited for heavy traffic.

In response to a query, SSP Hashmi admitted that the traffic police personnel could be involved in corruption, but action against such officials is usually taken on the receipt of complaints. He added that the driver has been arrested and being handed over to the operational police.