FAISALABAD, March 1: A driver of Allied Hospital was killed while four others, including two policemen, sustained injuries when masked men opened fire on an ambulance carrying cash for the payment of salaries to the employees here on Tuesday.

Allied Hospital cashier Athar Amin and accountant Iqbal Bajwa, accompanied by policemen Rizwan and Ali Raza, were on their way back after withdrawing Rs2.7 million by an ambulance.

The vehicle was intercepted by four masked men near the DCO Office on Stadium Road in the Civil Lines area. They opened fire on the ambulance as a result of which all the riders, including driver Haji Iqbal, sustained injuries. However, the attackers could take away the bag containing Rs500,000.

The injured were rushed to the hospital where driver Haji Iqbal succumbed to his injuries. However, the condition of the four people was stated to be out of danger. Police are investigating.

WASTE DISPOSAL: Doctors, environment experts and representatives of various NGOs have stressed the need to dispose of medical waste through modern techniques so as to protect the people from fatal diseases.

Speaking to the participants in a workshop on 'Hospital Waste Management' held under the city's environmental department, at the Allied Hospital on Monday, speakers said that to help check increasing environmental pollution, the civil society should play its role.

They said used syringes, plastic bags and other medical waste could be dangerous for the people if reused. The NGOs could play a pivotal role in this regard by influencing the private hospitals and clinics to install plants to dump and destroy the waste.

They said training programmes for the para-medial staff of government and private health institutions should be held so that the desired results could be achieved. The speakers urged the officials concerned to seal the those hospitals and clinics which are found involved in throwing the waste in the open or without proper treatment.

Punjab Medical College Principal Dr A G Rehan, speaking on the occasion, said government agencies and the doctors' community should jointly launch campaigns to control this menace.

NGO representatives Rahat Riaz and Asifa Abid, speaking to the participants, highlighted problems being faced by the public in this regard. Environment DO Khalid Mehmood said that a vigorous campaign had been launched against the institutions involved in throwing hospital waste without treatment.

Surprise raids would be conducted on the health centres to check their systems of waste disposal, and legal action would be taken against the violators, he added.