For fallen comrade: Labourers protest absence of doctors

Block Indus Highway by placing body of a labourer on the road.

KARAK:

Dozens of gypsum labourers and contractors protested against the absence of doctors at the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, Karak on Thursday and blocked the Indus Highway by placing the body of a labourer on the road. Labourers claimed after their colleague Fazal Khan, a resident of North Waziristan, was injured in a mining accident they took him to the DHQ Hospital, where no doctors were present.

They then took the injured to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar where he was pronounced dead.

Afterwards, labourers protested against Karak hospital staff and demanded the government take action against the negligent doctors and administration. Yaseen Abdul Salam, a labour leader, said doctors at LRH told them Fazal died due a delay in administering first aid.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2014.