Godil's health improving but not out of danger yet

KARACHI: Doctors said Friday that Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Abdul Rashid Godil’s health is improving, but that he is not out of danger yet and will stay in the ICU for the next few days.

A spokesman for the Liaquat National Hospital said the MQM leader was showing positive signs of recovery after he was taken off the ventilator over 24 hours ago.

"Doctors have decided to keep him off the ventilator for another day and keep him under observation," said hospital spokesman Anjum Rizvi.

But he cautioned that the lawmaker was in no way out of danger. "Doctors will continue to monitor his progress and keep him under observation today, after which they will decide if he can be kept off ventilator," he said.

When asked by a reporter, Rizvi said Godil was not in a condition to give a statement to police about the attackers.

"His condition is still in danger. Doctors say they will observe him for at least 3 to 4 more days, and keep him in the ICU before deciding how to proceed further," he told reporters gathered outside the hospital.

The spokesman confirmed that a bullet was still lodged in Godil's rib-cage, but that it was not harming the lawmaker in any way.

Four attackers on motorcycles opened fire on the car of the lawmaker on Tuesday, critically wounding him and killing his driver. The MQM leader was shot five times in the jaw, chin and chest, doctors said.

Godil was in his parked car at a traffic light in Karachi’s Bahadurabad neighbourhood when the unidentified men began firing. His wife was also present in the car but remained unhurt in the attack.

Police have so far achieved no headway in the investigation, with his wife also telling investigators that she was unable to identify the men who shot and critically wounded her husband.