Hit and Run: Mob sets fire to bus after a youth is run over

Protestors set Daewoo set Daewoo on fire, passengers were still inside the bus.

MULTAN: A large group of protesters were arrested by police officials after they set fire to a Daewoo bus following an accident near Samjabad on Friday.

According to the police, a Daewoo bus from Multan to Lahore ran over a 17-year-old boy on his motorcycle. “We heard the crash, because the bus literally trampled over him before it stopped,” said a commuter Sajida Rafeeq. Khurram Waheed was killed on the spot by the Daewoo liner number LRC 1671.

When locals saw the incident, a large mob surrounded the bus and set it on fire while passengers were still inside the bus.

“We all rushed out because they had started breaking windows and the bus was on fire. We feared it might explode,” said commuter Rashid Kareem, adding that there was a stampede as the passengers rushed to vacate the bus.

Police officials said that the bus driver managed to escape the scene and police are still on the lookout for him.

The locals blocked the road for several hours and burnt tyres after setting the bus on fire.

“When we arrived at the scene there was chaos. the commuters’ luggage had been burnt and they were all waiting on the sidelines as the mob protested on the road,” said inspector Javaid Warraich. The police dispersed the crowd after an hour and sent Waheed’s body for an autopsy to Nisthar Hospital.

The police said that it was incredibly fortunate that the passengers had not been severely injured.

“Some of the commuters did receive some burn injuries and some people were injured in the stampede but no one was severely injured,” Warraich said.

Hospital authorities eventually called Waheed’s parents who fainted when they heard the news of their son’s death. “It was a terrible shock for my parents.

They are both currently admitted at Nishtar hospital,” Waheed’s brother Kashif told reporters.

Police officials said that the protesters also stopped another Daewoo bus, following the protest, on the same route and broke its windows.

The mob tried to set fire to the second bus as well, but police officials immediately reached the scene and began baton charging the protesters. “We arrested over a dozen people for blocking the road and destroying the bus,” station house officer (SHO) Tariq Saleem Dogar said. The police eventually transported some of the leading protestors to the local police station for questioning.

Locals said that even though they didn’t approve of the actions of the mob, they had witnessed the incident and it was horrific.

“I don’t support the violence but we all saw the bus literally run over the boy.

The bus driver didn’t even bother to stop.

If the crowd hadn’t stopped it the driver would have kept on going as if nothing had happened,” said a wagon driver, Munawwar, who witnessed the incident.

Police officials said that traffic was finally restored after six hours of the road blocks.

Daewoo authorities refused to comment on the situation but the police said that they would investigate the whereabouts of the bus driver and that he would be brought to justice.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2010.