Angered citizens set a dumper truck on fire in Karachi after it killed a man and injured his wife, resulting in some people opening fire on them, police said on Tuesday.

“A garbage dumper hit a motorcyclist on Nishtar Road near Karachi Sweets, killing him,” South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told Dawn.

He identified the deceased man as 23-year-old Shahzeb Shahid and his wife as Misbah. The driver, Niazullah Afzal, was arrested and taken to a police station, DIG Raza said.

“The public set the dumper on fire,” the police officer said. He added that the blaze was later extinguished and 40 per cent of the vehicle was burnt. Police reached the site of the incident and the injured woman was taken to a hospital, a statement by the Karachi police’s media cell said.

A first information report (FIR) was registered against the dumper driver under Sections 320 (negligent driving) and 337-G (hurt by rash or negligent driving) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of the victim’s father.

As per the FIR, the father received information about the accident of Shahzeb, who had gotten married three to four months ago, at around 12 midnight.

When he, along with other relatives, arrived at the hospital, his son had already expired, the complainant said. The complainant said the dumper driver was involved in rash and negligent driving.

Meanwhile, police also registered a separate FIR against Liaquat Mehsood, the Sindh president of the All Dumper Truck Owners Association, and other suspects for firing on the enraged protesters.

The FIR invoked Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed) and 337-H (ii) (rash or negligent act to endanger human life) against the dumpers association’s head and others.

In the FIR, complainant Abdul Qadir, who introduced himself as a social worker, said he was present at Nishter Road, where the dumper had killed the man and injured his wife when the public set the heavy vehicle on fire.

He claimed that at around 3:30am, Mehsood arrived with 20-25 people, including two to three armed men, who resorted to firing and fled.

The armed men continued firing while fleeing, the complainant said. The social worker said he wanted to initiate legal proceedings against Mehsood and other unidentified persons for open firing.

On the other hand, in a statement shared on Mehsood’s Facebook account, the dumpers’ association claimed people opened fire at the official’s car and attempted to set it on fire.

The association’s spokesperson threatened to block the Super Highway in protest at 2pm if a case was not registered over the incident.

Rise in heavy vehicle accidents

In recent months, Karachi has witnessed a rise in traffic accidents, especially involving heavy vehicles such as dumpers and water tankers. Nearly 500 people lost their lives and 4,879 were injured in 2024 in road accidents resulting from various reasons, from reckless driving to construction activities, hospital data showed.

On October 12, a reckless dumper driver smashed into six vehicles, including three ambulances of the Edhi Foundation, near Merewether Clock Tower, killing a man and injuring two others. The driver, who possessed a “fake” licence, was arrested.

On August 10, two siblings were killed and their father was injured when a dumper truck ran over them on Karachi’s Rashid Minhas Road near Lucky One Mall. A mob then set seven trucks on fire, which sparked protests from transporters.

August 15 recorded two accidents involving heavy vehicles, including one where a speeding water tanker ran over and killed a four-year-old boy in Orangi Town.

In another accident, a young couple lost their lives when a fast-moving dumper truck hit their motorcycle in the Sultanabad area on M.T. Khan Road.