12 killed in Pakistan road accidents

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At least 12 people, including seven school kids, were killed and four others injured in two separate road accidents in Pakistan Tuesday, media reported.

The first accident took place at 9 a.m. when a rickshaw taking kids to a school was hit by a train in Sehwan area of Dadu, a district in the country's Sindh province, reports Xinhua.

Police said the rickshaw was hit by the passenger train at an unmanned level-crossing due to the negligence of the rickshaw driver, who was trying to cross without taking into account the speed of the train.

While three school children were killed in the accident on the spot, seven others, including four kids and the rickshaw driver, were seriously injured.

The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital where five of them, including four kids and the rickshaw driver, succumbed to their injuries. The remaining two are in critical condition, the report quoted hospital sources as saying.

In the second accident, which happened around the same time, four people, including a woman, were killed and two others injured when a rickshaw was hit by a bus coming from the opposite direction in Sialkot city.

The accident happened in Chak Nizam area of Sialkot in Punjab province, at about 9.20 a.m.

Police said the cause of the accident was being ascertained, but over-speeding of the bus seemed to be the reason.

Pakistan is among countries having the worst records of fatal traffic accidents, mainly due to poor roads, lack of driving skills, badly maintained vehicles and violation of road safety rules.