Three people lost their lives in separate road accidents in Karachi on Saturday, according to police officials.

The city has lately witnessed a rise in traffic accidents, especially involving heavy vehicles, including dumpers and water tankers, which killed nearly 500 people and injured 4,879 in 2024, according to hospital data.

A motorbike rider was killed in the Defence Housing Authority when a vehicle hit him early Saturday morning, Deputy Inspector General South Syed Asad Raza told Dawn.com.

He said, “The Bykea [hail-riding service] rider was passing through Khayaban-i-Nishat crossing when the an sport utility vehicle hit him. He sustained critical injuries and was transported to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) where he succumbed to his injuries.”

The police have impounded the vehicle and arrested the driver, he added.

Darakshan Station House Officer (SHO) Shahid Taj said that the victim’s heirs and the suspect had reached an out-of-court settlement and they told the police that they did not want any legal proceedings.

He added that the suspect was stated to be belonging to an influential family.

In another incident, a water tanker claimed the life of a motorcyclist in Qayyumabad.

Korangi SHO Mohammed Ali Niazi told Dawn.com, “The tanker hit the rider on Jam Sadiq Bridge. He suffered critical injuries and was transported to the JPMC where he was pronounced dead.”

The errant driver was arrested and a heavy vehicle was impounded, he added.

Separately, a trailer killed a man in Landhi. According to Malir Superintendent of Police Mansoor Gulzar Bozdar, the victim was a lecturer at a government college who was on his way to the institute when a trailer hit him at Future Colony.

Police surgeon Summaiya Syed said that he was shifted to the JPMC but he lost his life during the treatment.

The driver managed to escape from the spot, leaving behind the heavy vehicle that was impounded by the police, the SP said, adding that a first information report was registered against the driver on the complaint of the victim’s brother.

Earlier this month, the police said that a woman was killed and her husband injured when a water tanker hit their motorcycle and ran them over in Korangi, prompting an angry mob to set the water tanker on fire.

In April, an employee of the Pakistan Navy was killed while another was injured in Karachi’s Baldia after a 10-wheeler trailer hit them, police said.