A rickshaw caught fire on Stadium Road near a private hospital while heading toward New Town in Karachi after a leak in a Sui gas line, leaving the 35-year-old driver burnt and injured, according to rescue officials and police. The driver was taken for medical treatment, and the rickshaw was completely destroyed.
Rescue teams brought the fire under control
Rescue 1122 said its fire and rescue team reached the spot with a fire tender and an ambulance after the fire was reported. The team managed to bring the blaze under control after a struggle, but the rickshaw was reduced to ashes.
Edhi officials said the injured driver was taken to Civil Hospital’s Burns Ward for urgent treatment, where he was identified as 35-year-old Imran.
Police say excavation work damaged the gas line
New Town SHO said the fire broke out because of a leak in an underground gas line. He said the rickshaw driver was present at the spot when the flames suddenly erupted. Police sealed the affected area and deployed personnel there after informing Sui gas officials.
At the scene, a Sui gas employee named Ameen said the gas line was damaged during digging. He said Water Board staff were laying a water line in the area and the excavation damaged the Sui gas line, but no one from the Water Board had informed them about it. He added that the smell of gas had spread in the area and that work to stop the leak had begun.
Witnesses say a woman passenger escaped unharmed
Eyewitnesses said a woman was also travelling in the rickshaw and survived without injury. It also emerged that the injured driver had taken the rickshaw on instalments a few days earlier and that it was completely burned in the fire.
The driver gave an initial statement that as soon as he turned the key to start the rickshaw, it suddenly caught fire.
