14 hurt after vehicle crashes into tent outside DHA imambargah in Karachi

KARACHI: Fourteen people, mostly women, were injured when a fast-moving vehicle rammed into a tent erected by mourners outside an imambargah in Defence Housing Authority, police and rescue services officials said. Darakshan SHO Rashid Ali said that a Suzuki pick-up went out of the driver’s control and entered a tent outside Masjid-o-Imam Bargah Baqiyatullah on Saba Avenue in Phase VI, where mourners were attending a majlis, injuring several people. He said the police had taken the driver and two other occupants of the vehicle into custody. During grilling, the driver claimed that the vehicle had gone out of control after its brakes failed. However, the official said the police were further investigating the incident. The injured were shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where 11 of them were identified as Shazia, 45, Maheem Akram, 30, Mehnaz Shahbaz, Zunaira Akram, five-year-old Iman, Mumtaz Zafar, 40, Kausar Perween, 30, Shaherbano, 22, Irshah Bibi, Ayat Majid and Sumaira Tariq. Videos circulating on social media showed injured people lying on the road outside the imambargah, while other mourners could be heard crying out for help and requesting ambulances. In one of the videos, an unidentified voice is heard warning that there is a bomb inside the vehicle. Upon hearing this, panic broke out, and people began running to safety. Talking to Dawn, Karachi police chief Azad Khan said: ‘So far, it does not appear to be an act of terrorism. ’ He said three persons were travelling in the vehicle at the time of the incident and all of them suffered injuries and one was in critical condition. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah ordered authorities to investigate the incident with all possible angles. The CM directed the Karachi police chief to investigate whether it was a brake failure or something else. He also asked the Karachi commissioner to ensure best possible medical treatment for injured persons. Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2026

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