LAHORE, Jan 24: Enraged students set ablaze a van of the Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) shortly after it crushed a student to death in Faisal Town here on Monday.

They blocked the traffic for many hours on the Main Boulevard of Faisal Town causing a great deal of inconvenience to motorists.

The situation remained tense in the area for more than three hours owing to a demonstration by students of various private schools and colleges.

Garden Town DSP Qaiser Mushtaq said Faisal Rauf, 20, an I.Com, was waiting for a bus near the L-Block of Model Town Extension when a PTCL van ran him over. Faisal was the youngest among his eight siblings.

The DSP said the driver lost control over the steering while taking a U-turn that caused the fatal accident.

Fellows of Faisal rushed to the site on hearing his death and damaged the van. The driver fled the scene, he said.

Later, he said, a number of students of some other private schools and colleges gathered there, held a demonstration and set ablaze the van.

Some senior police officers held negotiations with protestors who dispersed on an assurance that the driver would be arrested soon.

The police have registered a case against the unidentified driver on the complaint of Faisal’s brother Ihsan, a resident of Gulberg-II.

Model Town L-Block Welfare Society secretary Imran condemned the death of the student in an accident, saying the mushroom growth of private schools and colleges in residential colonies was posing a serious threat to the lives of students.

He said the society had brought the issue to the knowledge of the LDA several times, but to no avail.