Three children were killed and five others sustained injuries when a dumper truck ran them over in Abbottabad on Friday morning.

 

Abbottabad police spokesperson Azam Mir Afzal told a private news outlet that the accident took place as the children were crossing the road near Lady Garden Park on their way to school.

 

A first information report was registered against the driver, who fled the scene, while the dumper truck was seized, he said.

 

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmad Faizi told reporters that a rescue team immediately went to the accident site after receiving information. “The bodies of the deceased, as well as the injured children, were taken to the district headquarters hospital.”

 

After the incident, family members of the children and locals staged a protest by blocking the Old Karakoram Highway.

 

“They demanded the arrest of the dumper truck’s driver,” the police spokesperson noted, adding that the protest ended after police assured the families that the driver would be arrested. Raids are being conducted to trace him.

 

It may be noted that the city has witnessed such tragedies before. In March, at least two students died and nine others were injured when a private van plunged into a gorge in Abbottabad’s Tarnoi Qalandarabad area.