Girl dead, 18 injured in Karachi amusement park ride accident

KARACHI: One girl died and 18 other people got injured as an amusement park swing ride collapsed near Old Sabzi Mandi in Karachi on Sunday, ARY News reported.

One eye witness said the Chair-O-Planes in the newly-inaugurated park fell while people were aboard it, turning the night of joy for the victim families into nightmare. Rescue sources identified the dead girl as Kashaf, daughter of Abdul Samad.

Two women were critically injured. All the injured were forthwith rushed to nearby hospitals.

Taking notice of the horrific incident, caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Fazal-ur-Rahman has directed to shut down all the amusement parks across the province for maintenance checking.

He directed the relevant authorities for straight off investigation.

Read More: Two members of amusement park management arrested for negligence

ARY News correspondent Salman Lodhi said bolts of the ride had come apart causing it to fall down.

Rangers and police immediately arrived at the scene. Police has launched investigation into the accident. Maintenance of rides in the park had reportedly not been carried out since its inception on this Eid-ul-Fitr.

About 20-25 can be boarded at a time on the ride, Storm Chaser, which rotates at 360 dimension.

Such accidents could be avoided if proper and timely maintenance was conducted, said the ARY correspondent.

Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair has demanded comprehensive report from the commissioner Karachi, the additional inspector general Sindh Police. He also directed the authorities to provide over-the-top healthcare to the injured.

The swing ride was meant to board adult people only, while at the time of the accident children were also riding it, Salman Lodhi said.

The Sindh CM has given the commissioner three-day time for complete probe in the incident.