KARACHI, June 26: The father, who lost his son last year when a large container slipped from a trailer and crushed his car, has established a fund for the education of the children of accident victims.
Aamir Parekh and his driver Mohammad Hanif were crushed to death when a 30-ton container stuffed with duplex boards slipped from a trailer and fell on their car on Jam Sadiq Ali Bridge in August last year.
Talking to journalists at Karachi Press Club on Tuesday, Aamir’s father Ahmed Parekh announced that he had established a fund for the education of the children who lost their parents in accidents.
Despite the fact that fatal accidents were being reported every now and then, the authorities did not bother to enforce road safety measures and check the frequent movement of trailers in the city, he deplored.
“Several people have died in fatal accidents in which trailers carrying containers without the four-twist locks were involved, yet the authorities take least interest in enforcing standard safety measures to save precious lives,” said the aggrieved father.
He said he would sue the provincial and the city governments as well as the port authorities and the shipping company concerned for damages and would donate all to the fund established for the education of the victims of traffic accidents.
Mr Parekh, the former nazim of Jamshed Town, said the victims of such accidents included a former member of the Punjab Assembly and an official of Ghazi Rangers.
At least 10 people died in accidents last month, he said and forewarned the government that if proper measures were not taken the number of accidents would increase in the coming years when Karachi would become a deep seaport.
With the deep seaport status, he said, the trailers’ operation would increase manifold putting lives of many at risk.
He said the government had failed to deliver, as hundreds of unfit trailers and long vehicles ignoring all safety precautions were plied on roads daily. The risk of fatal accidents increased with the deteriorating condition of roads, he said. “These uneven and bumpy roads displace containers turning the trailers a moving death threat for the road-users,” he observed.
Referring to a World Bank survey, Mr Parekh said at least 500,000 people were killed in road accidents every year. There were only a few companies in the country that had zero accident record by following the road safety rules, he said, adding that rest of all just throw caution to winds.
