On the eve of Independence Day, celebratory aircraft firing in Karachi resulted in at least 95 injuries and one fatality, a medical official said on Wednesday.
Despite previous prohibitions, incidents of aerial firing on holidays like New Year’s Eve and Independence Day are commonplace and frequently result in scores of injuries.
Dr. Summaiya Syed, a police physician, stated in a statement that three main hospitals in Karachi received reports of 95 cases of aerial firing.
Nineteen cases were recorded at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), consisting of thirty-three men and six women. The youngest was only five years old, and the eldest was seventy-four years old.
Aged between six and sixty-five, the 34 injured patients admitted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital were comprised of nine women and 25 men.
There were 22 recorded injuries at the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (SMBB) Trauma Center, 17 of whom were men and 5 of whom were women. The oldest was 55 years old, while the youngest was only six.
Dr. Syed told Dawn.com that one of the injured patients receiving care at the SMBB Trauma Center had a “serious” condition. She said that a police statement indicated that a suspect in the case had been taken into custody, confirming the death of a kid.
A list of the injured, together with their ages and the location of the incident, was released earlier by the information office of the Chhipa rescue service.
According to the notification, “Chhipa ambulances are transporting people injured in aerial firing on Independence Day in different parts of Karachi to the Civil (SMBB Trauma Centre), Jinnah (JPMC), and Abbasi Shaheed hospitals.”
The list, which listed 75 injuries, including 12 ladies and at least 18 youngsters among those hurt by the gunfire from the air. Three-year-olds, two four-year-olds, and an eighty-two-year-old grandmother were among them.
Numerous locations, including Korangi, Landhi, Lyari, Nazimabad, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Liaquatabad, Sohrab Goth, and Golimar, were the scene of the occurrences.
19 people detained throughout the city
In connection with the aerial firing events, the Korangi District police detained five men and arrested fourteen others in Karachi’s Central District. All charges involved the purported recovery of firearms.
In a statement, the senior superintendent of police for the Central District, Zeeshan Shafique, said that 14 individuals had been detained inside the boundaries of several police stations and that charges had been brought against them.
Following a child’s unintentional death from shooting, a suspect was taken into custody by the Shahrah-i-Noor Jahan police, according to a police statement. It further stated that a first information report (FIR) was filed and that a licensed handgun was found on the suspect.
One suspect in aerial firing was detained by the police stations in Khawaja, Ajmer Nagri, New Karachi, Sir Syed, Supermarket, Hyderi Market, Paposhnagar, Joharabad, and Gulbahar. The majority of the weapons seized from these individuals were licensed.
According to Shafique’s testimony, two suspects were detained by Nazimabad police and three by Sharifabad police.
Five males were reportedly detained by the Korangi District police for their alleged involvement in aerial shooting.
According to the police statement, the arrests took place at Zaman Town, Landhi, Saudabad, and several other locations in Korangi. It stated that cases had been filed against the suspects and that firearms had been found on them.
