KARACHI, July 2: Road accidents in different parts of the city on Monday claimed the lives of four people, including two young siblings who were knocked down by a hit-and-run water tanker which was then chased and set on fire by passersby in a violent reaction in North Nazimabad, said police.

The officials added that two fast-moving water tankers in an attempt to overtake one another hit a motorcycle, leaving the two riders dead on the spot. The fatal hit-and-run accident provoked the ire of the passing motorcyclists, who pursued the vehicles and set one of them ablaze.

“Both residents of Nusrat Bhutto Colony, 22-year-old Hamid Ali was taking his 20-year-old sister Sabiha Ali to Abdullah Girls College on a motorbike,” said an official at the Taimuria police station. “As they crossed the Sakhi Hasan roundabout and reached in front of Golden Garden Marriage Lawn, two tankers emerged and one in attempt to takeover the other hit them from the rear side.”

Both the siblings died on the spot and the tanker drivers were compelled to slam on the brakes when some enraged motorcyclists followed the vehicles, he said, adding that one of the bowsers was later torched.

“The two tankers have been impounded and both drivers detained,” said Taimuria SHO Sajid Javed.

He said the FIR would be lodged once the victims’ family approached the police station. “Currently, the family is in a state of shock and busy in the funeral arrangements.”

The SHO said the witnesses put the blame on both men who were recklessly driving the vehicles in the morning rush hour.

“Though the tanker set on fire was the one that had hit the motorbike, we have detained both drivers, as they shared the blame for reckless driving.” The police, however, did not register any FIR of the arson attack or pick up any arsonist.

Two women killed

In the areas of Korangi and Gulbai, two women were killed in separate road accidents, said rescue and police officials.

“Maha Jan, 24, was crossing a road when she was hit by a fast-moving truck near the Gulbai Bypass,” said an official at the Site-B police station.

While the truck sped away following the accident, the body was later shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi for a post-mortem examination, he added.

“The victim lived in the Gulbai area and used to work as a maidservant,” the official said.

In Korangi, a 50-year-old woman died after being hit by a fast-moving minibus near Vita Chowrangi.

An official at the Korangi police station said the victim was identified as Naz Bibi, a resident of Bengali Para. He added that she was mother of five and used to work as a maidservant at different homes.

“She was returning home from work when she was knocked down by the minibus near Vita Chowrangi. The police impounded the vehicle though its driver managed to escape,” he said The body has been shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center for medico-legal formalities, said the official.