Damaged Roads, Poor Busses, Unsuitable Drivers And Student Deaths

KARACHI, Pakistan: Students blocked roads and protested on Friday the deaths of four students of Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (Fuuast) caused by accidents on the University Road.

On Thursday, a bus overturned on the under-construction University Road which resulted in deaths of four passengers.

The students were protesting peacefully but went furious after the news of death of Fuuast student Hunza Farnaz, who was hit by a bus on the same road outside the university gate. She remained injured for a week before passing away.

Daily, more than 200, 000 students commute on the University Road, which is dug up for the past several months with no alternative route.

The students demanded from government the completion of the road at the earliest and take action against the construction company and drivers of the unfit busses.

The students also demand university transportation and removal of the vice-chancellor of the university. “This road has never been in a good condition and now traffic accidents have become rampant,” said one of the protesting students.

“We have not been provided with the university transport system which is why we have to travel from these busses risking our lives,” she added.

The protests finished when authorities assured them of justice but the students say they'll protest again if the demands are not met in a week.

In another incident on Friday 22-year-old Ghullam Allah Khan was killed when a bus ran him over at Patel Para. The student was travelling by hanging with the bus and fell on the road when the bus tyre landed into a hole.

A day earlier Jahanzeb Ali Arain, a computer science student of Sindh University, Hyderabad, died after falling from a bus and run over by it. The student was standing on the opened door of the bus.

“He [Arain] was standing at the door on the front side of the bus,” said police SHO, quoting the detained bus cleaner Muhammad Qasim Dahiri. “After he fell, the rear tyre ran over him.”

The bus driver had escaped.