KARACHI: At least eight women and children drowned yesterday in a sewage ravine after they were thrown from a speeding truck in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, officials said.
At least 12 people, including six children and six women, fell into the Lyari river, which serves as a sewage outlet for the populous city, when the vehicle hit a side railing on the expressway.
The victims died after swallowing sewage water and mud.
“We received eight bodies of children and women and most of them died of suffocation,” said doctor Aftab Chunnar, the senior medical officer at the government Civil Hospital.
Two children and two women were in critical condition at the hospital, he said.
Assembly chief drops protocol
ISLAMABAD: Speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who for the first time assumed the office of acting president of Pakistan in the absence of President Mamnoon Hussain who is on an official visit to China and Senate Chairman Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari who is on a visit to Tehran, has refused to have the official protocol of the president and returned the presidential car preferring to keep in use the NA Speaker’s car.
“It is an honour for me to serve as the acting president but I am against enjoying unnecessary protocol from the national exchequer,” said the acting president while talking to newsmen yesterday at a presidential chamber in the Parliament House. In the first interaction with the media after assuming office of acting president, Sadiq said he did not like unnecessary protocol and large security squad as huge amount from national kitty were spent for this purpose.
PAF acquires fighter aircraft
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has acquired one squadron of F-16 multirole fighter aircraft from Jordan and 13 F-16s will be inducted into the service next month.
With this, the strength of PAF F-16s will reach 76. The fighter aircraft have been purchased from Jordan and they were in the use of the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF).
The deal has already been finalised and inked by both the countries. The 13 aircraft are of F-16 A/B Block-15 and the PAF has similar aircraft in its fleet which are flying satisfactorily. The deal about 12 A models and one B model aircraft has been authenticated by the manufacturing company and the US government has also given its nod for the sale/purchase of the planes.
Well-placed defence sources said here the other day that the purchased aircraft were in good condition since they had attained Mid-Life Update (MLU) and they would be providing service for another 20 years with almost 3,000 hours on average available to them for flying.
2 killed as gas pipeline bursts
Islamabad: A 36-inch diametre gas pipeline from Qadirpur Gas Field caught fire after a huge explosion near Mir Kosh area in Ghotki district, Pakistan’s Geo News reported yesterday. The police said that two people were killed and two others injured in the explosion. According to reports, Guddu-Kashmore highway was closed for traffic as the gas pipeline exploded near the road linking Punjab and Sindh. AGENCIES
