At least seven people received bullet injuries as a result of aerial firing in different parts of Karachi soon after the Pakistan cricket team defeated India to clinch the Champions Trophy.
"We received seven people with bullet wounds at several government hospitals in Karachi,” said Police Surgeon Dr Aijaz Khokhar. The police surgeon added that a child and a woman were also injured. He said that the condition of all those injured was out of danger.
A DSNG engineer belonging to the 24 News channel, Shariq Ishtiaq, sustained bullet wounds when unknown people resorted to firing outside the residence of Pakistani skipper Sarfraz Ahmad in the Buffer Zone area.
SSP Central Muqaddas Haider confirmed the firing incident and added that engineer was initially taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and later referred to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
JPMC Executive Director Dr Seemin Jamali told Dawn that Shariq sustained wounds on his head but his condition was stable.
Dr Jamali further said that 15-year-old Husain Raza was also brought to the hospital from Model Colony with a bullet wound on his abdomen. His condition was said to be serious.
Dr Jamali later said one of the victims had succumbed to injuries.
Two other persons, identified as Faraz, 22, from Lines Area and Sardar Sultan, 30, from Orangi Town were also brought with bullet wounds for treatment at JPMC.
A top police official told Dawn that the police would conduct raids to arrest the suspects involved in jubilation firing. He said spent bullet casings were being collected and information being taken from witnesses to ascertain the identity of the culprits involved in firing incidents in different parts of the city.
Aerial firing incidents were also reported in various area of the country. At least six people sustained injuries from stray bullets in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Mardan district only.
In Mardan, a large number of people and media personnel had gathered at the residence of star batsman Fakhar Zaman in Katlang tehsil. The revelers fired shots in the air, set off fireworks and distributed sweets to celebrate Pakistan’s win over their arch rival, India.
