ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday conveyed “deep gratitude” to a man who saved several lives in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province this week by driving a burning oil tanker away from a fuel pump.
The incident took place in Balochistan’s provincial capital, Quetta, where a man named Muhammad Faisal selflessly drove a large oil tanker on fire away from a populous neighborhood.
The video of the incident went viral on social media, leading to public appreciation.
Salman Sufi, the top official in Sharif’s strategic reforms team, said in a Twitter post he had an “excellent phone call” with the man who saved lives in Balochistan.
“I have conveyed PM @CMShehbaz[’s] deep gratitude for his selfless service to humanity & invited him to Islamabad to be our guest of honor,” he added.
Sufi said Faisal had made Pakistan proud.
Separately, the government of Balochistan announced a cash reward for him.
“Chief minister [of Balochistan Abdul Quddus Bizenjo] has given an Rs500,000 award to the driver who risked his life to drive a burning oil tanker away from a crowded place,” Farah Azeem Shah, spokesperson of the Balochistan administration, said.
