Man killed as drunk driver crushes eight persons sleeping on sidewalk

The intoxicated driver lost control of the car after he hit a rickshaw

KARACHI: A man was killed and seven others injured when a vehicle ran over them near the Indus Hospital in Korangi, within the jurisdiction of Zaman Town police station, on Friday night.

Driver of the vehicle, a black Toyota Corolla bearing the registration number BDM 196, lost control of the car after he hit a rickshaw. As a result, he ran over people sleeping on a footpath and injured eight of them. Of the injured, four were rushed to the nearby Indus Hospital, while the rest were shifted to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital where they were treated in the trauma centre.

One from among those shifted to the Indus Hospital died during the course of treatment. The age of the deceased was estimated to be 50 years.

Zaman Town SHO Babar Hameed told The Express Tribune that the victim who died during treatment couldn’t be identified while those being treated at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital have been identified as rickshaw driver Zahir, Imam Din, Shamshad and Muhammad Qasim.

He also informed that the other injured shifted to the Indus Hospital were provided immediate medical aid and were discharged shortly after being brought to the hospital.

Taking immediate action following the incident, police arrested the car driver, Amir Shahzad, along with his two friends, Tanveer and Bilal Bhatti. However, another one of their friends who was in the car fled the scene. The arrested were transferred to the police station for investigation.

According to SHO Hameed, the arrested were intoxicated, on their way to Clifton after attending a wedding of a friend in Landhi. The driver lost control of the car due to speeding, he said, adding that all three of the arrested were residents of Landhi.

The arrested car driver Amir Shahzad told the police that he was travelling with three friends in the car, when he ran his car over people sleeping on a footpath, to avoid hitting a milkman. He also revealed that he had hired the car from a rent-a-car company and he works at a garment factory.

However, SHO Hameed said that the statements of the arrested accused contradicted each other. They were intoxicated and couldn’t give proper statements, he said.

The car has been taken into custody and proper investigation would be initiated once a case was registered after the deceased victim’s family was found, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2019.