KARACHI: The Orangi Town police have booked the driver of a school van that caught fire on Saturday in a case pertaining to his alleged negligence that resulted in injuries to four children.

Officials said on Sunday that an FIR was lodged against the held driver, Abdul Rasheed, on a complaint of Abdul Rehman, father of one of the injured child.

Orangi Town SHO Tasawar Jutt said that the case was registered under sections 337-H-I (punishment for causing hurt by mistake (khata) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

In his statement before the police, the held driver stated that the school van was stuck in gravel and when he started it, the fire erupted in electric wiring, which caused injuries to four children.

He claimed that he helped the children rescued from the gutted van and shifted them to the nearby Sindh Government Qatar Hospital. He also said that he did not ‘disappear’ after the incident, instead he took unhurt children to their homes.

The area SHO confirmed that the driver voluntarily surrendered before the police late on Saturday night.

Four children, including a girl, sustained burn wounds when a school van caught fire in Orangi Town on Saturday morning.

The van was carrying several children for a school-cum-seminary when the fire erupted in it at Orangi-7. The incident occurred at 8am.

The school van had stuck in gravel kept there for the extension of the Qatar Hospital’s building. The driver and other children tried to push the van out when the fire erupted.

Area people rushed to the spot and with the help of water and mud, they controlled the fire and rescued the children.

Two children were discharged after first medical aid. However, two others were admitted to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi for treatment.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2019