ISLAMABAD, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and 391 others injured including women and children in separate road accidents during the Independence Day celebrations in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, local media and rescue officials said on Wednesday.
According to rescue officials in the metropolis Karachi, during the country's Independence Day which was celebrated on Aug. 14, over 350 road accidents, including minor and major ones, were reported in Karachi, the provincial capital of southern Sindh province.
Out of 391 wounded people, 200 sustained minor injuries and were discharged from hospitals after the first aid. However, remaining injured are still being treated at various hospitals in the city, according to hospital sources.
Meanwhile, at least three people were killed and over 45 others wounded in different incidents of aerial firing and firework display during the celebrations of Independence Day in various cities of Pakistan.
The practice of celebrating the special occasions and events with aerial gunfire and firework display is common in Pakistan, which claims a number of lives each year, said media reports.
City police have devised a special security and traffic management plan keeping in view various challenges, including securing ceremonies, maintaining law and order, controlling one-wheeling, aerial firing and fireworks on Independence Day to avoid untoward incidents.
Additional contingents of police were also deployed at public areas like cinemas, parks, zoo, markets and all the important roads of the city.
