Homeless man killed, child injured after pickup mounts footpath in DHA

KARACHI: A homeless man was killed and his four-year-old son injured after a pickup truck climbed onto a footpath in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority in the early hours of Wednesday, according to police and rescue officials.

A traffic police official said the driver was travelling towards Khayaban-i-Ittehad from Khayaban-i-Shujaat when, on reaching a traffic signal, he suddenly turned left. The official said the vehicle went out of control, mounted the footpath and ran over the man and his son, who were sleeping there.

People from the area and passers-by stopped the driver and moved the injured father and son to a private hospital in the same pickup truck. Doctors declared 40-year-old Khadim Husain dead on arrival, while Zeeshan, 4, was admitted for treatment.

Darakhshan SHO Rashid Ali said the pickup driver managed to flee from the hospital. He said police were trying to identify and arrest the suspect with the help of CCTV footage. The body was later taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.

Police said the deceased and his young son used to sell flowers at traffic signals in DHA.

Woman killed in separate Mauripur Road accident

In another road accident in Karachi, a woman was killed when a truck struck a motorcycle on Mauripur Road on Tuesday, police said.

A traffic police official said the truck, bearing registration number TKN-350, was allegedly being driven recklessly when it hit a motorcycle, KTQ-0310, near the Marine Academy at around 2pm. As a result, the pillion rider, identified as 50-year-old Hafiza Shahid Ahmed, fell onto the road and suffered critical injuries.

She was taken to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, where doctors pronounced her dead on arrival. Police said she had been travelling with her son, who was riding the motorcycle and was not injured in the accident.

Police said the truck driver was arrested after the incident.