26 June 2004	Saturday	07 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, June 25: A 13-year-old boy was crushed to death after falling on Sunday from a ferris wheel run by the management of an amusement park, according to the victim's family.

Mohsin Khan, a student of class seven, had gone to the Alladin Park with his mother and other female members of his family, where he met the fatal accident.

On Friday the boy's father, Mansoor Khan, went to the Gulistan-i-Jauhar police station to lodge an FIR. "I have submitted an application, informing the SHO about the incident. I am waiting for him to come to the police station for the registration of the FIR," he told Dawn over the telephone.

Describing the incident Mohsin's mother, Sultana Mansoor, said: "My son was about to sit in the wheel, when the operator started it. Mohsin lost his balance and was crushed under a part of the huge wheel".

The people present intervened, making the wheel stop, but by that time Mohsin had been badly injured, she said. "His ribs were broken and food started coming out of his mouth."

Mohsin was pulled out from under the wheel and placed on the ground. "He was crying with pain and finding it difficult to breath."

Mrs Mansoor claimed that the management of the amusement park did not even call an ambulance and administered 'first aid' only by placing an oxygen mask over Mohsin's face. "After repeated requests, they brought an old taxi and sent us out of the park from a side exit."

At a little distance from the park, the taxi driver told the boy's family members that his vehicle had run out diesel. "We took another taxi and rushed to the Liaquat National Hospital but my son was pronounced dead by the doctors on arrival," said Mrs Mansoor.

"The tactics employed by the management to hush up the case and their failure to call an ambulance resulted in the wastage of a full hour. If they had promptly called the ambulance, my son might have survived the accident."