KARACHI: A family of five came under a gun attack that left four of them critically wounded at their home in Martin Quarters early Thursday morning, according to police and hospital of ficials.

An official at the Jamshed Quarters police station said Imran Iqbal, 45, his wife, Rukhsana, 40, and their three children, Yasir, 22,Aliya, 15, and Vareesha, 11, sustained gunshot wounds when two armed men opened indiscriminate fire on them before fleeing.

The incident was different in that the attackers asked all the f amily members to lie down on the floor and then opened indiscriminate fire on them.

It was 5am when the two gunmen knocked at their door and held Yasir hostage at gunpoint as he opened the door, said the areapolice. After a heated exchange, the of ficials said, the attackers collected mobile phones from the family members and asked them to lie down on the floor. However, the police said, they didn`t collect cash or other valuables from the premises. They opened indiscriminate fire on the family members and escaped, said the police.

The victims were rushed to Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) and Jinnah Postgraduate MedicalCentre (JPMC) where the condition of four of them was stated to be critical.

Additional police surgeon of the CHK Dr Qarar Ahmed told Dawn that Yasir and his mother were admitted to the hospital for treatment. A bullet pierced Yasir`s temple and damaged his brain, said Dr Ahmed.

Terming his mother`s condition critical, the hospital official said she received gunshot wounds onher hand and chest.

Executive Director of JPMC Dr Seemin Jamali described the condition of Imran and his daughter, Aliya, as serious. She said both the father and his daughter received multiple bullet wounds on their abdomen. `Imran has been put on ventilator,` she said. However, Dr Jamali added, Vareesha, who had sustained a bullet wound in her leg, was out of danger.

Jamshed Quarters SHO Inam Hasan Junejo told Dawn that the police were investigating the case to ascertain the exact motive of the gun attack. He said the armed men might have taken away the mobile phones to prevent any of the wounded f amily members from making a call. `It does not appear to be a robbery,` he added.

Couple, son die of inhaling smoke A couple and their 22-year-old son were found dead in their home on Thursday morning, said the SITE police.

Amid ongoing outages in the metropolis, the family had purchased a power generator and brought it home just a day ago, Site SP Asif Ahmed Bughio told Dawn. They placed it in a bedroom of their house, situated in Haroonabad, he said. It kept running for the whole day and night, as on Thursday morning it was still on when the landlord visited the house, said the police officer.

The house owner then informed the police that nobody from among the tenants came out though the generator was still on when he visited it, SP Bughio said. The area police along with neighbours broke open the door to find all three dead.

The deceased were identified as Zahoor, 50, his wife, Fareeda, 45, and their special child, Qamroz, 22, the officer said, adding that apparently smoke inhalation caused their death.