14 injured after vehicle crashes into mourners’ tent outside DHA imambargah in Karachi

KARACHI: Fourteen people, most of them women, were injured after a fast-moving vehicle crashed into a tent set up by mourners outside an imambargah in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority, according to police and rescue officials.

Darakshan SHO Rashid Ali said a Suzuki pick-up went out of the driver’s control and entered the tent outside Masjid-o-Imam Bargah Baqiyatullah on Saba Avenue in Phase VI, where mourners were attending a majlis. He said the driver and two other occupants of the vehicle had been taken into custody by police.

According to the SHO, the driver told investigators during questioning that the vehicle went out of control after its brakes failed. The police official said, however, that the incident was still being investigated further.

The injured were taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Eleven of them were identified as Shazia, 45, Maheem Akram, 30, Mehnaz Shahbaz, Zunaira Akram, five-year-old Iman, Mumtaz Zafar, 40, Kausar Perween, 30, Shaherbano, 22, Irshah Bibi, Ayat Majid and Sumaira Tariq.

Videos show panic at scene

Videos circulating on social media showed injured people lying on the road outside the imambargah, while other mourners were heard calling for help and asking for ambulances. In one of the clips, an unidentified voice warned that there was a bomb inside the vehicle, triggering panic as people ran from the area.

Karachi police chief Azad Khan said early findings did not suggest terrorism.

‘So far, it does not appear to be an act of terrorism.’

Azad Khan said three people were travelling in the vehicle at the time of the incident. He added that all three sustained injuries and one of them was in critical condition.

Chief minister orders inquiry

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah directed the authorities to investigate the incident from all possible angles. He asked the Karachi police chief to determine whether the crash was caused by brake failure or some other factor.

The chief minister also instructed the Karachi commissioner to ensure the best possible medical treatment for those injured in the incident.