Speeding cars accompanying Nawaz Sharif's 'homecoming' motorcade crushed a nine-year-old child to death in Lalamusa on Friday, DawnNews reported.
According to DawnNews, the child was among a crowd of supporters gathered to greet Nawaz Sharif as his motorcade passed through Lalamusa.
It seems that he strayed onto the road and was hit by one of the cars belonging to the Elite Force before multiple following cars ran over him without stopping.
According to eyewitnesses, the child succumbed to his injuries while the vehicles passed over him. While a mobile health unit was accompanying the deposed prime minister's motorcade, bystanders said no car stopped to take stock of the child's condition.
The child's father lost consciousness, experiencing heart palpitations, after he saw his child's body on the road, DawnNews said.
Locals said that the father was shifted to a nearby hospital, where doctors fought to save his life.
As news of the boy's death made national headlines, Nawaz Sharif's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, took to Twitter to express grief over the incident and said that the local PML-N leadership had been asked to provide assistance to the grieved family.
Later in the evening, while addressing a political gathering in Gujranwala, Nawaz Sharif offered his condolences over the incident and promised that he will visit the victim's family. He labelled the deceased boy as the first 'martyr' of his struggle for strengthening democracy in the country and led a prayer for him.
Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb also regretted the incident in a statement. Similarly, PML-N leader Musaddiq Malik expressed sorrow over the child's death and sent his condolences to the family.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah shifted blame, saying the child had been hit by "some other vehicle which was speeding to join Nawaz Sharif's motorcade."
Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique, while expressing sympathies for Ahmad’s family, added that the child was the "first martyr of this struggle, which is aimed at bringing the supremacy of law and justice to everyone in the country.”
Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law echoed similar sentiments, terming the child's loss "a sacrifice for Pakistan" while noting that "millions of others had also sacrificed their lives during Pakistan's creation."
