KARACHI, Nov 29: Eight people were killed and around 100 others injured as ethnic tensions took a violent turn in several parts of Karachi on Saturday.

About 18 vehicles were set on fire, sources said.

The most troubled area was a road between Banaras Chowk and Orangi Town where at least three people were shot dead and scores of others injured.

An official of the Qatar Hospital in Orangi said that about 92 injured people and three bodies had been brought to the hospital.

City police chief Waseem Ahmed told Dawn that eight people were killed in the daylong violence. “Now the situation has improved as we have deployed additional personnel across the city to avoid any further violence,” he said.

Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza told a press conference that shoot-on-sight orders had been given to police and other law-enforcement agencies against miscreants involved in wrecking the peace of the city.

All major commercial and shopping centers were closed and vehicular traffic grew thin across the city as fear and apprehension deepened.

A senior police official told Dawn that violence began in Banaras Chowk after a minibus driver was manhandled and glasses of his vehicle were smashed by a group of miscreants following a traffic accident. “The driver took the vehicle to Banaras Chowk where a mob started pelting the vehicular traffic with stones,” he said.

Almost the entire city reverberated with heavy gunfire and the streets and lanes gave a deserted look with people mostly staying indoors.

Certain parts of the city have been in the grip of violent activities during the past three days.

Though the violence and ethnic tension remained restricted to Sohrab Goth, Gulbarg, Orangi Town, Peerabad, Banaras and Baldia Town, gunshot sound was heard in most parts of the city.

Police said a young man was shot dead in Baldia Town and a truck driver in Saudabad area of Malir. Two people were killed in North Nazimabad.

Thousands of people returning home faced a great deal of hardship as public conveyance disappeared from the roads. All petrol pumps and gas filling stations were also closed before dusk.