KARACHI: An underage car driver knocked down two youths at Seaview while four other people, including two children, were killed in road accidents in Surjani Town and on the Superhighway in separate incidents on Sunday, police said.

They added that Aslam and Abdul Basit were riding a motorbike when apparently a fast-moving car hit them near Village Restaurant.The bike riders died on the spot.

The police arrested car driver Moiz Arif and seized the vehicle.

Sahil police officer Hamraz said that the driver, a 17-year-old student, had no driving licence.

In Surjani, the two minor boys, identified as 14-year-old Harmain Asif, and 10-year-old Awais, who were riding a motorcycle, were hit by a dumber truck near Abdullah Mor.

They sustained critical injuries and were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors pronounced them dead on arrival.

Separately on Superhighway, a teenager and a man died while five others injured when a car and a truck collided near Nooriabad, an Edhi Foundation spokesperson said.

The deceased were identified as Niaz Bakhsal and teenager Sahil.

Among the injured were three women.

‘Three die, seven maimed daily’

Meanwhile, the city police chief in a programme held at Seaview revealed that three persons die and seven become disabled in road accidents in the metropolis on daily basis on account of over-speeding, violation of one-way and lack of use of indicators while driving, officials said.

Additional IG Karachi Dr Amir Ahmed Shaikh speaking at the programme on Sunday said that three persons died while seven lost their legs or hands due to accidents daily in the city.

Over-speeding, rash driving and motorcycle riding, violation of one-way and lack of use of indicators while driving were major reasons behind accidents, he added.

He said that around 1,200 accidents occurred in Karachi in a month.

He disclosed that around 60pc drivers had no licence in Karachi.

Motorcyclists must wear helmets.

He said that there was a difference between traffic in other cities of the world and Karachi as in other parts of the world, a driver’s licence got cancelled over repeated violation of traffic laws, but here no one cares about violation of laws.

He revealed that with help of traffic police, they were trying to bring a ‘new system’.

Pointing out a report of the World Health Organization, the city police chief said that more people die in road accidents than terrorism-related incidents in the world.

The programme was organised by an NGO ‘Voice of Karachi’ in memory of people killed in accidents.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2018