The festive environment at the 8th Cholistan Jeep Rally on Sunday turned unpleasant when three people, including a para-glider, were injured in two incidents.
Two men, riding a motorcycle, were hit by one of the rally jeeps when they were trying to cross the race track.
They were taken to tehsil headquarters hospital in Ahmadpur by Rescue 1122. Doctors treating them said that both had broken their legs.
A para-glider was also injured when he applied the emergency brakes to avoid a crowd that had stepped on the landing. The sudden brakes resulted in the wings breaking down. He was slightly injured and given first aid on the spot.
In another accident on Saturday, three people who were on their way from Lahore to attend the rally, were hit by a speeding vehicle near Derawar Fort.
One of them, Muhammad Shakeel, 27, died on the spot. The injured were taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Sunday marked the last day of the rally that began at 8:50am.
In the qualifying round on Saturday, Nadir Magsi, Sarfaraz, Asad Khuhro, Muhammad Qasim and Makhdoom Aamir had placed first, second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively on the 2.6 kilometers long track.
Maghsi was the first to drive off as Bahawalpur Ameer Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi dropped the flag. However, his jeep developed a fault resulting in his disqualification.
Twenty-five more jeeps were disqualified for similar reasons.
The jeeps were towed back to the starting point by the organisers.
FOR LIST OF WINNERS SEE PAGE 17.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 18th, 2013.