https://arab.news/8dkc4
- Victims included a child, a 70-year-old man and another adult, according to hospital data
- Aerial firing is common during public celebrations in Pakistan but often causes deadly accidents
KARACHI: Three people were killed and 119 injured in Karachi when celebratory aerial firing broke out as Pakistan marked its Independence Day, a senior health official said on Thursday.
Firing guns into the air during weddings, festivals and national holidays is a long-standing practice in Pakistan, but one that regularly results in injuries and deaths when stray bullets strike bystanders. Police typically ban the practice, yet enforcement remains weak in the country’s largest city of more than 20 million people.
“Three people were killed and 119 injured in celebratory aerial firing on August 14 in Karachi,” Karachi Police Surgeon Dr. Summaya Syed said in a statement, citing hospital reports.
According to official data, casualties were reported from multiple hospitals: 42 injured at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, 26 at Civil Hospital Karachi/SMBB Institute of Trauma, and 41 cases at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center.
Those killed included a minor girl in Azizabad, a 70-year-old man in Kalri, and a 35-year-old man in Qur’angi.
Karachi, Pakistan’s financial hub and most populous city, frequently sees such incidents during national holidays. Rights groups and doctors have repeatedly called for stronger enforcement against aerial firing, noting that most victims are innocent bystanders, including children.