Another US Diplomat Hits Bikers In Pakistan, Arrested

A United States diplomat was taken into police custody after he rammed his vehicle into a motorcycle, leaving two people injured, on Sunday in Islamabad.

The U.S. envoy was later identified as second Secretary Chad Rex Ausburn who hit the bike rider and his pillion passenger in a hit-and-run case . The injured were taken to the hospital and their condition is reported to be stable at the moment.

According to a report in the English-language newspaper, Dawn, Ausburn apparently refused to step out of the vehicle following the accident but did so after police officials arrived at the scene. He was later taken into police custody and shifted to the Secretariat police station where his vehicle was impounded.

Reports state that the U.S. envoy is still in police custody, awaiting the verification and confirmation of diplomatic immunity.

This is the second serious road accident involving a U.S. diplomat in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, this month. Earlier in April, Joseph Emanuel Hall, the defense and air attaché at the U.S. embassy, who was driving a land cruiser in the capital, rammed into a motorcycle carrying two men at a traffic signal near Daman-e-Koh. One died at the scene and the second suffered serious injuries.

“Justice will take its course in accordance with the law of the land and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961," said a press release by Pakistan's Foreign Office.

The CCTV footage of the accident was widely shared on social media platforms.

Reports state that Hall too refused to step out of the vehicle and fled from the scene in a different car. He was later stopped at a checkpoint and when the police tried questioning him, he refused to get down from the vehicle.

A report against Hall was lodged at the Kohsar police station and the traffic police sergeant ordered a tests in order to determine whether Hall was under the influence or not.

The U.S. embassy had also expressed sympathy for the deceased in a tweet.