Karachi: A 15-year-old boy died on Sunday after being struck by a stray bullet, as a result, of aerial firing due to the celebrations on their win in ICC Champions trophy.
Syed Hussain Raza Zaidi was admitted and went through an operation at Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC). He was the eldest son of the family, The Express Tribune reported.
Several other people were also reported to have been injured in the celebratory aerial firing. Hussain was standing on the balcony of his house and was watching fireworks in the area soon after Pakistan defeated India by 180 runs when he told his father, “Papa some men holding guns are firing (now) that Pakistan is the new champions”.
Qazim asked his son to come inside, no sooner he turned to go back than he got hit by a bullet.
“He (Hussain) shouted ‘Papa, mujhe goli lag gai (Papa, I have been shot),” Hussain’s uncle, Syed Hassan Raza Zaidi said, narrating the boy’s last words.
Hussain’s parents rushed their son to JPMC, but he had lost too much blood by the time they reached the hospital. He died at 2 am in the operation theatre. The boy’s funeral prayer was offered at the Model Colony mosque and he was buried in Model Colony graveyard.
At 9:30 PM, around four men on two motorcycles passed by the street of Model Colony firing shots in the air and one of which hit Hussain in the ribs and passed into his stomach, explained another uncle, Syed Nazir Raza Zaidi.
Police arrested Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Amanullah Mehsud for aerial firing following Pakistan’s victory. An FIR was lodged against him at the Darakhshan police station in Karachi, post which he could be arrested.