LAHORE, Aug 15: Five motorcyclists were killed while a teenager and a minor were slaughtered by kite strings on Aug 13 and 14. Youths riding motorcycles without mufflers made the lives of Lahorites literally a hell with law enforcers becoming silent spectators. The revellers violated traffic laws with impunity and threw firecrackers on families visiting parks and recreational spots.

Police, however, insisted on claiming that they had taken action against the violators. They said they had registered 19 cases and arrested 53 motorcyclists on charges of violating speed limits and other traffic laws.

But scenes witnessed on various roads, especially on Aug 14, belied the police claim as there had been traffic jams and chaos.

Sagheer, 25, Imran Ali, 28, Saeed, 23, Amjad Ali, 20, and Faisal, 19, were killed when they fell from their motorbikes while zigzagging in South Cantonment, Shahdara, Islampura, Kot Lakhpat and Factory Area, respectively.

Waqar, 16, was killed when a kite-string slit open his throat in Samanabad. Yousuf along with his son Nauman, 5, was on his way home on his motorcycle when a kite string cut his son’s throat.