KARACHI: Two children and two young men were killed in two road accidents in the city on Monday.

A fast-moving water tanker killed two children and injured three others in the Manghopir area, police said.

The victims were seminary pupils.

They said as the children were returning to their homes from the Khulfai-i-Rashideen seminary in Madina Colony of Khairabad, they were run over by the water tanker.

A police officer said the accident appeared to be the outcome of a race between two water tankers to get ahead of each other to the nearby water hydrants.

As a result, the two children identified as Bareeda Qadri Mehboob, 7, and Azeem Nadeem, 8, died on the spot. Three other children, Shahzadi aka Sobia Ramazan, 6, Usman Baber, 8, and Saghir Rasheed, 5, were injured. The dead and injured were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Later, the injured children were discharged after first aid was administered to them, said Manghopir SHO Ghulam Hussain Korai.

The driver escaped, leaving behind the water tanker, which was seized by the police.

The incident enraged people in the area, who protested against it. They blocked Shahrah-i-Qazafi for some time and urged the authorities to take action against illegal water hydrants in the area due to which accidents had increased. In the evening, the police arrested the driver, Asim alias Ashu, and the owner of the tanker, Irshad Gulzar, he added.

The Manghopir SHO also said the driver claimed that the accident occurred because of brake failure.

Two young men were killed by a dumper truck in Gadap City on Monday.

Police said Mohammed Hanif, 25, and his friend Altaf Sultan, 30, were riding a motorcycle when a speeding dumper fatally hit them on the Superhighway near Toll Plaza. The police claimed to have arrested the driver, Hameedullah, and impoun­ded the vehicle. The victims were residents of the Abul Hasan Ispahani Road area.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2015

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