05 June 2004	Saturday	16 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

KARACHI, June 4: Over two dozen ambulances on their way to pick up patients from different localities were attacked by mobs in different parts of the city on Friday.

The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal had called for a peaceful strike to protest the killing of prominent religious scholar Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai last Sunday.

According to a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation, the ambulances were attacked in Machhar Colony, Gulbai, Shershah, Baldia, Ghani Chowrangi, Chakiwara, Orangi, Banaras, Agra Taj, Landhi, Qayyumabad, Sultanabad, Patel Para, Soldier Bazaar, Teen Hatti, Sabzimandi, Guru Mandir, Lea Market and Korangi Industrial Area localities.

Stone-pelting by mobs in these localities forced the ambulances to return to their centres without picking up the patients, the spokesman said. A total of 210 calls were received for emergency ambulance service for patients, some of them with heart problems.

However, the ambulances were not able to reach their destinations as mobs on the way threatened the drivers to go back or risk their life. The spokesman quoted some people as claiming that their relatives died while waiting for the ambulances.

A senior official at the Edhi Foundation said that ambulances enjoyed the right of passage even in war zones, but in Karachi the situation appeared deplorable. He recalled a mob attack on the Edhi Centre at Guru Mandir last Sunday after the killing of Mufti Shamzai earlier in the day. During the disturbances that followed the killing, five ambulances had been hijacked the same day, he added.