7 dead as coaster, trailer collide on Karachi’s Mauripur Road

Seven people died while six others were injured on Sunday when a coaster overturned after colliding with a trailer on Karachi’s Mauripur Road, police said.

According to a statement issued by the Mauripur police station, those killed in the accident included four children and two women.

The deceased were 40-year-old Sughra, 45-year-old Shazia, 10-year-old Kinza Ahmed, 14-year-old Qadeer Abdul Jabbar, six-year-old Sakeena Manzoor, four-year-old Zeenat Hayat and an unidentified person aged 40.

The wounded, which included two women and a boy, were 35-year-old Azhar, 35-year-old Bushra, 35-year-old Shabbir, 25-year-old Sadiq, 20-year-old Zainab and 10-year-old Mudasir.

The wounded and the bodies were shifted to Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), the police statement said, adding that further investigation was under way.

Mauripur Station House Officer (SHO) Chaudhry Tufail told Dawn.com the victims were relatives who were on their way to a picnic at the beach.

The accident occurred when the trailer took a U-turn and the coaster — which was coming from behind and apparently speeding — rammed into it and overturned, the SHO said.

He added that the driver of the trailer fled while the driver of the coaster was among the injured persons.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah expressed grief at the lives lost in the incident.

In a statement, he directed the administrations of CHK, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center and SMBB Institute of Trauma to provide the best treatment available to the injured passengers.

He also summoned a detailed report from Sindh Inspector General Ghulam Nabi Memon, ordering police to take strict measures to prevent traffic accidents.

“The [driving] licences of drivers who speed up [vehicles] even on busy roads should be suspended. Speeding has wrecked joyful homes along with [taking lives of] innocent children,” the statement quoted CM Shah as saying.

Last month, three people were killed and as many were injured in a pile-up accident near Loonikot near Nooriabad on the M9 motorway.

On May 25, at least five people were killed and 11 were injured when a pickup truck collided with a trailer in Jhirk, Thatta.

Days later, at least 28 people died and 22 were injured after a bus fell into a ravine in Washuk, Balochistan.