KARACHI, April 2: Ten passengers were killed and eight others injured when a minibus fell several feet down off the ICI Bridge on Sunday morning in the Mauripur area. Police said, the vehicle was heading towards Merewether tower from Dockyard carrying fishermen, labourers and an employee of Pakistan Navy, who also died in the accident.

According to some eyewitnesses, two policemen on a motorcycle were apparently trying to stop the vehicle at the bridge. But the minibus of route A-3 had attempted to overtake and fallen off the bridge. After the accident, the policemen had sped away from the spot, witnesses claimed.

According to Edhi sources, seven passengers died on the spot, while the three succumbed to their wounds at the Civil Hospital.

The dead were identified as Mushtaq Husain, Muhammad Mushtaq, Mehmood, Wiladat Ali, Muhammad Sharif, Muhammad Ayub, Ahmed Zaman, Ishrat, and two brothers Muhammad Safdar and Rizwan. Ishrat was identified as chief petty officer of the Pakistan Navy who was going home after completing his duty.

The brothers were returning from the Dockyard, one of them was a driver while the other one was a cleaner.

Sixty-five-year old Muhammad Ayub, a fisherman residing in Nayabad Lyari, was also on his way home. Some of the injured were also taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. On account of Sunday morning, hospital emergencies had a meagre strength to tackle such incidents.

The driver of the minibus identified as Shakil was taken to the Civil Hospital along with the injured, but after getting first aid, he managed to slip from the hospital taking advantage of chaos.

During investigation, police found out that the minibus registered to a woman did not had a fitness certification issued by the competent authority.

The actual cause of the accident could not be established immediately, but the police believed that the minibus had met accident after its tyre rod had broken down.