Reckless driving: Speeding tanker kills two children returning home from school

Two other men were crushed to death by a dumper truck near Toll Plaza.

KARACHI:

Two children were crushed to death while three others were critically wounded in a road accident on Northern Bypass on Monday.

The accident took place at Madina Colony near Northern Bypass within the limits of Manghopir police station. The drivers of three water tankers were racing along the road when one of them struck the children. As a result, two of them were killed on the spot, while three others were critically injured.

The bodies and the injured were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for autopsies and treatment. The deceased were identified as seven-year-old Fariza, daughter of Qari Mehmood and eight-year-old Azeem Nadeem, while the injured as eight-year-old Luqman Bashir, five-year-old Sagar Rasheed and six-year-old Shahzadi alias Sobia, daughter of Ramzan.

Some time later, police officials reached the site and inquired about the accident. SHO Ghulam Hussain Korai said the children were returning home from a nearby religious seminary — Madrassah Khulfa-e-Rashideen. "The tanker drivers were racing each other and one of the tankers hit the children," the officer explained. He added that the driver responsible for the accident had fled along with the vehicle before the police reached the site. The police managed to trace the driver, identified as Asim and the owner of the tanker, Irshad, and arrested them from Ittehad Town.

Following the accident, scores of people, including families and relatives of the victims staged a protest on Northern Bypass and blocked it for traffic. The protesters demanded the Rangers DG, Sindh IG and Traffic DIG to come up with a reliable strategy to curb such accidents and save innocent lives.

The protesters lamented that these types of accidents had become a norm as water tankers were being used by illegal hydrants operating in the area. These water tankers were usually seen speeding along the almost empty roads, with no regard for the speed limit, they claimed. Police officials reached the site and dispersed the protesters after assuring them of full cooperation.

There is a large number of illegal water hydrants set up in Manghopir, from where these tankers fill up the water to supply it to other parts of the city. As the demand for these tankers has increased due to the water shortage in most parts of the city, the drivers are forced to speed up to reach their destinations faster. This has increased the number of accidents and collisions in the area.

Two others crushed to death

In another incident, two men were crushed to death by a speeding dumper truck near Toll Plaza. The deceased were identified as 25-year-old Muhammad Hanif and 30-year-old Altaf Sultan. Following the accident, the driver, Hameedullah, surrendered himself to the police. The victims lived on Abul Hasan Isphani Road and were on the way home when the dumper crashed into their motorcycle.

Separately, nearly a dozen people were wounded during a collision between an oil tanker and a bus on Hub River Road within the limits of Mochko police station. Police officials said the oil tanker was on its way to Hub from Karachi while the bus was coming to Karachi from Hub. The injured were taken to Civil Hospital, Karachi, for treatment where the condition of some of the injured was said to be critical.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2015.