Mystery jaywalker on fenced track blamed for Green Bus accident in Karachi

(Clockwise from left) A Green Bus stops on its dedicated track at the site of an accident at Nagan Chowrangi, where another Green Bus skidded off the track and hit the fence on Friday morning; a man exits the bus after passengers smashed through the windows to get out following the accident; and the wiring and cables of the vehicle are exposed as its front panel and grille were broken in the crash.—PPI/ Fahim Siddiqi / White Star

KARACHI: The popular Green Line Bus, which moves on its own dedicated track from Numaish to Surjani Town, was involved in a scary accident near Nagan Chowrangi early on Friday.

The cause of the accident is said to be a mysterious little child no one met or saw, though the driver of the bus claims and maintains this.

He said that there was a little child who seemed to have come on the track out of nowhere. It was to avoid the kid that the driver slammed the brakes and the bus screeched and skidded into the side fence.

The bus carrying the number GL-033 stopped short of the pillars of the Nagan Chowrangi flyover.

There was a panic among the bus passengers following the collision. Some broke the side windows of the bus to escape from there after finding the bus doors jammed shut.

According to Abdul Aziz, general manager operations of the Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Ltd, which runs the Green Line, the track was cleared within half an hour and the operation was resumed.

Passengers suffer minor injuries

Asked about the damage, he said it would be taken care of as all their buses were fully insured. “We have lots of spare parts. In fact, we have enough spare parts to cover us for the next three years at least,” he added.

There are numerous squatters occupying the empty places under the city’s flyovers.

They also live under the Nagan Chowrangi flyover and hang and dry their bed sheets and clothing over the Green Line fences.

Mr Aziz said that he had already written to the commissioner of Karachi about this mess, who then wrote to the DC to remove the squatters from the area.

“The child who came on the track must have been thin and small enough to have passed through the grills.

“It is not the first time that this has happened. Earlier, a grown-up came in the way of the Orange Line, that too, on its dedicated track. After the driver screeched to a halt barely avoiding him, that person climbed over the fence and ran off unhurt. But the bus was damaged,” he informed.

“However, we are investigating this latest incident. These buses do have digital video recorders. Things will become clear.”

As a result of the accident, some women passengers received minor injuries. The bus driver, too, received injuries when a mob gathered at the site to subject the driver to beating.

Sir Syed Town police SHO Shahid Taj confirmed that a vagabond child had appeared on the bus track resulting in the accident.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2023

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