Lyari Expressway accident: 11th member of Quetta-based family dies

Five other members of the family are still battling for their lives at Civil hospital.

KARACHI: The 11th member of the Quetta-based family succumbed to his injuries at Civil Hospital, Karachi, on Thursday morning after 10 of them passed away on Wednesday when their truck plunged into Lyari River in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.

All bodies were transported to Quetta for the funeral on Thursday afternoon. An FIR no. 24/2014 has been registered on behalf of the state against the unidentified driver.

On Wednesday, seven bodies — Sabiha, 27, Nasreen, 30, Samreen, 20, two-year-old Farooq, three-year-old Haris, two-year-old Aneesa and three-year-old Hoor Bibi — were brought to the hospital, while three others, Nooreen, 40, Afsheen, 38, and three-year-old Babul, died during medical treatment. Zahoor, 22, died Thursday morning after he was brought in critical condition after the accident.

“Most of the victims had suffered head injuries,” said Dr Rajandar, a medico-legal officer at the hospital. He said that five other injured persons are also in a critical condition, adding that the doctors are trying to save their lives.

Waheedur Rehman, a resident of Muslim Colony and a relative of the deceased persons, received the bodies and transported them to Quetta. Police officials said the family was on their way to Lea Market from where they had plans to travel to Quetta. The mini-truck on was overloaded with luggage and the driver was over-speeding, they added. The police believe that the passengers were unable to keep balance as they were sitting atop plastic bags.

“The family had come to Karachi for a picnic,” said DSP Nasir Lodhi quoting the relatives, who are not willing to register an FIR against the driver, saying that death was their destiny. “They are not even willing to tell the name of the driver,” he added.

From their clothes it could be said that they had come to Karachi in search of work after the cold wave in Quetta, said the officials. The doctors and police believe that they didn’t come to Karachi only for a picnic. “I don’t think they came for a tour,” said DSP Lodhi. He said that the police will arrest the driver soon.

The investigations are expected to go smoothly as the relatives plan to return to Karachi after the funeral in Quetta, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2014.