A school van driver suffered burn injuries on Saturday as his vehicle caught fire near Federal B Area. According to police, the children were quickly pulled out of the burning vehicle. The van driver suffered burn injuries as he tried to put out the fire and has been shifted to a hospital. Officials said that a cylinder was present in the van, however, the cause of the fire could not immediately be determined. A day earlier, a schoolgirl and driver of a van suffered minor burns as the vehicle caught fire in Karachi’s Korangi area. According to Senior Superintendent of Police Korangi Ali Raza, the van driver and a schoolgirl received minor burns in the incident that occurred in Zaman Town. As per initial reports, a short circuit in the van led to the fire. On January 5, eight children suffered burns as their school van caught fire near Orangi Town area in Karachi. The incident led to a police crackdown against school vans fitted with CNG and LPG cylinders. The crackdown in turn triggered protests from school van drivers and owners, who demanded that their vehicles be allowed to be fitted with CNG.
Published in Daily Times, January 27th 2019.
