A 40-year-old flower seller was killed and his four-year-old son injured after a speeding double-cabin car mounted a pavement in Karachi’s Defence Phase 6, police and rescue officials said.
The accident occurred at the Khayaban-e-Bukhari traffic signal, where Khadim had been resting with his two young children after spending the day selling flowers, according to rescue officials. Police said the vehicle left the road, struck the family on the pavement and continued moving.
Khadim died at the scene, while his four-year-old son, Zeeshan, sustained injuries. Another child escaped unharmed, officials said. The injured child and the deceased father were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for treatment and legal formalities.
Police said the driver transported the injured child and Khadim to hospital before fleeing the scene. They added that the vehicle was not displaying a registration number plate, adding that efforts were under way to trace both the driver and the pickup truck.
According to police, Khadim was a resident of the Nasir Jump area of Korangi and earned a living by selling flowers with his children at traffic signals in the Defence locality. Officers said he had been resting on the pavement with his children after finishing work for the day when the collision occurred.
Speaking to the media after the incident, Khadim’s son said that the family sold flowers to support themselves.
“We used to go to school, but after our father’s leg was broken, we started selling flowers to earn a living,” he stated.
He pointed out that people informed the family that their father had been run over by a vehicle while he was sleeping on the pavement with his younger brother.
The boy added that the family consists of seven siblings and lives near Nasir Jump in Korangi. He said his father had been resting for a short time after spending the day selling flowers when the accident took place.
Police said that the investigation was continuing and that efforts to locate the suspect driver were ongoing.
