ISLAMABAD, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 people, including women and children, were killed and dozens injured in separate road accidents in Pakistan, local media and police said on Tuesday.
According to police officials, an early Tuesday morning road accident claimed seven lives on the spot whereas nine others were injured near Arifwala area of Pakpattan, a district in the country's eastern Punjab province.
The incident happened when a mini truck hit into a passenger bus coming from the opposite direction, said police, adding that overspeeding of the mini-truck was apparently the cause of the accident.
Following the fatal accident, rescue teams and police rushed to the crash site and shifted the bodies and injured to a nearby government-run hospital. Four among the injured are said to be in critical condition.
In another accident later in the afternoon, five people were killed and several others sustained severe injuries when an overspeeding passenger van collided with a motorcycle in Muzaffargarh city of Punjab.
The van driver lost control over the vehicle while trying to save the motorcyclist travelling on the same direction. The van hit the bike and overturned, killing five people including the motorcyclist.
Separately, a passenger bus overturned due to overspeeding at the Sukkur-Multan Motorway near Ghotki district of Pakistan's southern Sindh province on Tuesday, killing at least three people while critically injuring nearly a dozen others as the bus caught fire after the accident.
According to the motorway police, the passenger bus was on its way to the provincial capital Karachi when the accident happened.
Road accidents frequently happen in Pakistan, mainly due to poorly maintained vehicles, dilapidated roads and negligence of road safety measures.
Traffic police officials say that many road accidents in the country were caused by human error.
