Karachi:
At midnight, the city was resonated with a crack of shots as hundreds of people resort to air firing to celebrate the day of independence.
Unobstructed air firing and fireworks disturbed the city’s peace and made the festivity to tragedy. Three people, including an eight-year-old girl and a 70-year-old man, lost their lives, while 81 others sustained injuries.
According to police, 51 men, 23 women, six boys and a girl were among the wounded. Police arrested 39 suspects across different areas of the city and recovered a number of firearms used in the illegal festive firing.
In a particularly heartbreaking incident, eight -year -old Naaha was shot and killed by stray shots in Azizabad Block Eight. She lost her life as she stood on her balcony with a Pakistani flag attached to her chest.
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According to a family friend, Naaha sat down in fear when shot shots called, but was mortally beaten at the back of his head. Her family rushed her to a nearby hospital where the staff reportedly refused to register the case. She was later taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where doctors confirmed her death.
In addition, 35-year-old Stephen, a resident of the Christian settlement near Zaman Town Police Station, was killed in a similar incident in Korangi. His body was moved to Jinnah Hospital.
The seventy-year-old jumma was also killed by air firing in Lyaris Kalri neighborhood near Agra Taj Colony. His body was led to civil hospital.
Injured persons were reported from almost all parts of the city-North Nazimabad, Malir, Korangi, Orangi Town, Liaquatabad, Surjani, Guldhan-e-Iqbal, Lyari and beyond.
Victims varied from seven to over 50, with damage varied in severity. These include Umar, 11, wounded in North Nazimabad; Ramzan, 48, wounded in the Gullhan-e-Baloch; Isa, eight, shot in pib colony; Florence, 16, wounded in the FC area; and Sidra, injured in Bilal Colony.
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Hospitals including Abbasi Shaheed, Jinnah and Civil received a continuous stream of victims all night.
The city police confirmed that 57 suspects were arrested for involvement in air firing. Weapons with different calibers were confiscated under the city raids. Authorities have promised a strict act against those who are responsible and appealed to the public to refrain from dangerous festive shots in the future.
Family members and local residents expressed anger and grief and criticized provincial authorities for not limiting air firing despite repeated events in previous years.
“Every year we fear this evening more than we celebrate it,” said a resident of Liaquatabad. “This is not independence, but chaos.”
