ISLAMABAD, May 23: Five distance runners attending a national camp were injured after a recklessly driven taxi rammed into them from behind as they trained early on Monday morning. The athletes, all of them from the Army, were going through their paces by the roadside just outside the premises of the Pakistan Sports Complex when the accident occurred.

The injured: Muhammad Shahid, Muhammad Ayub, Muhammad Ashraf, Safdar Nazeer and Muhammad Nawaz along with the taxi driver who also sustained injuries were rushed to the hospital. All were later discharged and the driver arrested.

Dr. Waqar Ahmed of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) told Dawn that although the athletes were lucky to have escaped with just cuts and bruises, the next 24 hours will be crucial.

“We will know within a day if there are any infections, the possibility of which however is quite slim,” he said.

But he pointed out that the accident would seriously affect the athletes training. “Their injuries although minor will bring their level of training down to zero.”

Brig. Arif Siddiqui, the head of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) was furious. “It is the fault of the driver and I will make sure he gets punished for his recklessness.”

“It is indeed a big blow to the athletes who will require ample time to get back into top shape.”

The driver, said to be a government employee reportedly did not possess a driving licence. He hit the pack of runners in high speed. “We are lucky not to have suffered serious injuries,” Safdar Nazeer said. “But obviously we will need time to recover fully.”

Of the five, Safdar and Nawaz are 3000m steeplechase runners while Shahid and Ayub’s events are the 5000m and 10,000m. Ashraf runs the 1500 distance.