The driver, who had crashed his car into a man and his wife travelling on a motorcycle at Shahrah-e-Faisal in Karachi, resulting in the immediate death of the couple, turned out to be a 17-year-old boy, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday.
Later, in his statement given to the police, the boy said he was driving at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour when he saw a motorcycle in front of him. “I applied my brakes, but brakes did not work,” he said, adding, “Consequently my car rammed into the motorcycle.
He said as soon as the car hit the motorcycle, he stopped his car.
The boy further said he did not have a license and the car was not his own either. “The car belongs to my friend,” he said, adding, “My three friends were also sitting in the car along with me, who were aged between 16 and 17 years.”
Only three days ago, a man and his pregnant wife were killed in an accident when a water tanker hit them on Karachi’s main Shahrah-e- Faisal road, according to police and hospital officials.
Karachi Traffic Police Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Pir Mohammed Shah said that the water tanker was on its way from Model Colony towards Shahrah-e-Faisal but did not take a left turn.
He said cemented barriers were recently erected on the spit but the driver breached them as the vehicle’s brakes failed and came on the other side of Shahrah-e-Faisal where it hit the bike-riding family.
Karachi has witnessed a disturbing surge in traffic accidents, with a total of 107 lives lost in just the first 45 days of 2025, the rescue service said.
The victims include 78 men, 14 women, 11 children and 4 girls.
According to a report by the Chhipa Welfare Association, in addition to the fatalities, at least 1,493 citizens, including 6,290 men, 193 women, 42 children and 18 girls, were injured in these accidents.
The traffic police said that most accidents involved heavy vehicles, including dumpers, trailers, and oil tankers.
In January and the first six days of February 2025, 32 accidents involved heavy traffic.
Reporter: Anusha Jaffery