LAHORE, May 7: Students burnt three buses and damaged a Rescue 1122 fire-fighting vehicle in protest after a second-year student died allegedly because of negligence of a bus driver at Dharampura stop on Monday.

Around a dozen people, including three women, two bus drivers and three Rescue 1122 official were also injured in stone pelting and thrashing by a group of students. Traffic on Canal Road and its adjacent arteries came to a stand still during the violent protest.

Witnesses said the driver accelerated the speed when 18-year-old Tabish Aslam of Ghaziabad was trying to get on a bus (LRJ-5907) at Dharampura stop.

The victim, a student of a Gulberg-based technical training institute, fell onto the ground and was crushed under the bus tyres. He died on the spot.

The bus driver and conductor fled the scene.

Police, however, said the victim was standing at the front door of the bus when he slipped accidentally and was crushed under the rear wheels of the vehicle.

Soon after the incident, some students riding the bus, regulated under the Lahore Transport Company, became furious and set the vehicle on fire after throwing petrol on it.

The protesting students, who were joined by others, chanted slogans against rash driving and also burned two passing-by buses.

The protesters also gave a sound thrashing to the drivers and conductors of the burnt buses.

A Rescue 1122 vehicle that reached the spot to extinguish the fire engulfing the buses was also attacked by the mob. The driver was also tortured and injured by the protesters.

According to Rescue 1122, their three officials -- driver Munawar Khan, fire rescuers Rashid and Muhammad Akram -- suffered multiple injuries at the hands of protesters.

Munawar, with a head injury, Rashid with fracture and muscular damage and Akram with multiple wounds were shifted to a hospital for treatment.

The stone-pelting by students also left several citizens injured.

After Mughalpura police failed to handle the situation, officials of nearby police stations were also called to the spot. Protesters were brought under control after senior police officers intervened.

Three people, including a student, were taken into custody by the police.

Operations SSP Capt Sajjad Hasan Manj (retired) said Racecourse police had registered three cases -- one against the bus driver on the complaint of victim’s father Muhammad Aslam (a rickshaw driver), second lodged by the LTC management against protesting students who burnt buses and the third got registered by Rescue 1122 officials against those who damaged their vehicle.

He said the protest lasted for one-and-a-half hours. The SSP said police would take action against those who created the law and order situation by resorting to violence.