KARACHI: Nine friends, who were killed in a road accident in Thatta when they were returning from a picnic at Keenjhar Lake on Tuesday evening, were laid to rest on Wednesday amid moving scenes.

All the victims were aged between 20 and 40 years. Their funeral prayer was held at a local ground in Qadhafi Town, Malir, which was attended by lawmakers, civil society organisations and relatives in large numbers.

Moving scenes were witnessed at the funeral while the atmosphere was sombre in the whole locality.

Thatta SSP Adeel Chandio said that the accident took place between a truck and a van in which nine people were killed who had come from Karachi. The incident occurred on the National Highway within the jurisdiction of the Keenjhar police station at around 10:30pm on Tuesday. All nine people belonged to Malir.

The SSP said that truck driver Mohammed Rais was taken into custody and an FIR would be registered upon complaint of relatives of the deceased. He added that the held driver had a ‘learning licence’ from Jamshoro, which was valid up to March 2022.

Ill-fated group was returning from Keenjhar Lake when their van collided with a truck on National Highway

An Edhi Foundation spokesperson said coffins of nine people were brought at Edhi Home in Sohrab Goth early on Wednesday morning. The bodies were taken to their residences in Qadhafi Town for burial. They were laid to rest in the Landhi graveyard.

The relatives, who arrived at Edhi Home, said the victims were residents of a same locality and had gone for a picnic when the tragedy occurred when they were returning to Karachi.

A grief-stricken man told journalists that victim Saiful Haq was his nephew who worked at a factory. He said that the unmarried youth was planning to go to Qatar for a job after Eid holidays. He was the youngest among four siblings.

Another man, Rafaqat, told the media that one of the accident victims, Qaiser, was father of four daughters and hailed from Mansehra. He worked at a local textile mill in Karachi.

Relatives of victim Adnan said he was the elder among five siblings.

Teenage victim Ubaid was a student, who wanted to join the Pakistan Army. Another deceased, Abdullah, had returned from Saudi Arabia after three years to spend Eid with his family and friends. He had brought his close friend Noman on the picnic, when they both died.

The relatives said Abdullah had planned to take his friend to Saudi Arabia for work. Noman was father of four children.

“My son was a dervish,” Noman’s grief-stricken father said, adding that he wanted to give his children the best education he could.

Noman’s mother-in-law told journalists that Abdullah and Noman’s friendship was known in the area and they also wanted to work together abroad.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2023