Two-part documentary, On The Frontline with Karachi’s Ambulance Drivers, presented by Samira Shackle for the BBC World Service.
In Karachi, with a population of around 20 million people, ambulance drivers are on the front lines of this megacity’s shifting conflicts.
Samira Shackle joins one of these drivers, Muhammad Safdar, on his relentless round of call-outs. As a first-responder for more than fifteen years, Safdar has witnessed Karachi wracked by gang wars, political violence and terrorism. At the height of the unrest, the number of fatalities was often overwhelming. Then a harsh crackdown by the army and the police, beginning in 2014, brought the conflict under control. Following this, Safdar and others like him have seen drastic changes in the nature of their work.
As Samira and Safdar traverse this enormous city, their experiences reveal a remarkable story of life and death in contemporary Pakistan.
Eliza Alice Lomas 