Karachi:
At midnight, the city reverberated with the cracking of the shots when hundreds of people turned to aerial shots to celebrate Independence Day.
The aerial shots without restrictions and fireworks interrupted the peace of the city, turning the feast into tragedy. Three people, including an eight -year -old girl and a 70 -year -old man lost their lives, while another 81 suffered wounds.
According to the police, 51 men, 23 women, six children and a girl were among the wounds. Police arrested 39 suspects in several areas of the city and recovered a variety of firearms used in the illegal celebration shot.
In a particularly heartbreaking incident, Naaha, eight years old, was killed by street shots in Azizabad Block eight. He lost his life while standing on his balcony with a Pakistani flag stuck in his chest.
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According to a family friend, Naaha sat with fear when the shots sounded, but was fatally beaten on the back of the head. Her family took her to a nearby hospital, where the staff refused to register the case. He was later taken to the Abbasi Shaheed hospital, where doctors confirmed his death.
In addition, Stephen, 35, a resident of the Christian settlement near the police station of the city of Zaman, was killed in a similar incident in Korangi. His body was transferred to the Jinnah hospital.
Jumma, seventy -year -old, was also killed by aerial shots in the Kalri neighborhood in Lyari, near the Colony Agra Taj. His body was taken to the Civil Hospital.
The injured people were informed from almost all parts of the city: North Nazimabad, Malir, Korangi, Orangi Town, Liaquatabad, Arriejani, Gulshan-E-iqbal, Lyari and beyond.
The victims had between seven to 50 years, with injuries that vary in gravity. These include Umar, 11, wounded in northern Nazimabad; Ramzan, 48, wounded in Gulshan-E-Faloch; Isa, eight, shot in GDP Colony; Florence, 16, wounded in the FC area; and cider, wounded in the Bilal neighborhood.
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The hospitals, including Abbasi Shaheed, Jinnah and Civil, received a continuous current of victims throughout the night.
The City Police confirmed that 57 suspects were arrested for their participation in the aerial shot. The weapons of different calibers were confiscated during the raids throughout the city. The authorities have promised severe action against those responsible and appealed to the public that refrain from dangerous celebration in the future.
Family members and local residents expressed anger and pain, criticizing the provincial authorities for not stopping aerial shots despite repeated incidents in previous years.
“Every year we fear tonight more than we celebrated,” said a Liaquatabad resident. “This is not independence but chaos.”
