LAHORE: A speeding jeep hit an auto rickshaw in Defence area, killing three people on the spot, including a passenger and his minor daughter, besides injuring his two minor children.

Rickshaw driver Shaukat Ali was also among them who succumbed to his head injuries at the spot while his young daughter suffered critical wounds.

The police later arrested the young driver of the Land Cruiser while his two friends, who were also occupying the seats, fled the scene.

A police official said the driver was neither having registration documents of the vehicle nor driving licence at the time of the accident.

He said the accident occurred at Wateen Chowk in the jurisdiction of Defence B police station late on Sunday when the head of the family Mohammad Younis, 28, was on his way to a local market along with his wife and three children by a rickshaw.

The police lodged a case against the driver on the complaint of Younis’ brother Mohammad Zahid and sent the suspect to hospital for his medical examination after the complainant alleged that he was drunk at that time.

Zahid told the police that his brother had visited his home in Defence along with his family. As he left the home for a local market, he (complainant) was following him on a car.

He said as his brother reached the Wateen Chowk, he witnessed the Land Cruiser ploughing into the rickshaw, killing three people, including his brother and nephew.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2019