2 killed, 1 injured in water tanker accident on Karachi’s Shaheed-i-Millat Road: authorities

Two people were killed while one was injured on Friday after a water tanker ran over them on Karachi’s Shaheed-i-Millat Road, officials said.

In an update issued by the Chhipa Information Bureau at 10:16am, two people riding a motorbike died, while one was seriously injured, when the tanker ran over them near the Shaheed-i-Millat Bridge.

“The deceased, along with the injured, were moved to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre,” according to Chhipa.

It added that the deceased were 57 and 49 years old, while the injured, whose identity could not be ascertained, was 30.

Meanwhile, the traffic police helpline, in a statement, asked people to contact Traffic Helpline 1915 to inquire about alternative routes as Shaheed-e-Milllat Road was closed for traffic moving towards the Baloch Colony flyover.

Reacting to the accident, Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori said in a statement that “water tankers were becoming a cause of death [due to frequent accidents].”

The governor — while expressing concern over the deaths — sought a report from the Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon, and prayed for the deceased and patience for the bereaved families.

“I am with the bereaved families in this hour of grief,” the governor said.

Roads within the metropolis continue to see frequent accidents, often caused by dilapidated roads, untrained motorists, and failure to obey traffic rules.

Larger vehicles like buses, oil and water tankers, dumper trucks, and container trucks play a big part in making roads unsafe, mainly due to non-compliance with traffic rules.

According to trauma surgeons and medical specialists, around 500 people, mostly motorcyclists, suffer injuries as a result of road accidents in Karachi daily and are brought to emergency units of different hospitals for treatment.

In July last year, a tanker carrying jet fuel detached from its truck and overturned on a car at the Baloch Colony flyover, killing the car driver on the spot.

An angry mob set two water tankers on fire after a motorcyclist was run over and killed by a truck on the main University Road near Safari Park in September.

Similarly, two minor brothers were killed while another was critically injured after a recklessly driven water tanker ran over them in October.