Haste makes waste of rickshaw and car

Train crushes car, rickshaw as drivers bypass closed gate of railway crossing

KARACHI:

In a sheer act of madness, two men tried to outrun a train by racing their vehicles across the track even though the railway crossing gate was closed.

Muhammad Miskin Nawaz, 57, and Juniad Haris,45, had to jump from their car and rickshaw, respectively, to save their lives. The two drivers suffered slight injuries as they leapt to safety, but the incoming train rammed into their rickshaw and car at the railway crossing in Cattle Colony area. Both the drivers were trying to cross the railway crossing in a hasty manner.

Sources said, the railway gate in Cattle Colony was closed for the passing train and the traffic was waiting as usual for the locomotive to pass by. Meanwhile, two men, one driving a rickshaw and the other an old hatchback, tried to cross the track by bypassing the gate. However, their tyres got stuck in the tracks. With apparent death approaching them by seconds with the chugging juggernaut, the two jumped to safety and the train rammed into their vehicles.

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The rickshaw and the car were badly damaged in the collision.

As soon as the incident was reported, rescue workers rushed to the spot and the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. According to rescue officials, the condition of Nawaz and Haris was out of danger, though their vehicles were totally wrecked due to their haste.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2022.