20 killed in separate road accidents in Pakistan

At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured in separate road accidents in Pakistan, the media and police said.

In the latest accident, five passengers were killed, including two women whereas 20 others injured in the deadly collision between a passenger bus and a trailer on M2 motorway in Pindi Bhattian, a city in the country's eastern Punjab.

According to the motorway police, the passenger bus was on its way to the country's northwest city of Mansehra from Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab province, when the incident happened.

Following the fatal accident, rescue teams and police rushed to the crash site and shifted the bodies and injured to the District Headquarters Hospital in Pindi Bhattian. Three among the injured are said to be in critical condition, according to the hospital sources.

In another accident, a speedy bus ran over a tractor trolley, carrying labourers, killing six on the spot, including 3 brothers, and injuring several others on early Wednesday morning. said Abb Takk News.

The incident occurred in Shaukatabad area of Layyah, a district in Punjab, said police officials.

The bodies and injured were shifted to the District Hospital Layyah, the report added.

Separately, late last night, at least nine passengers were killed and six other injured when a jeep fell into a 3,000 feet deep ravine in the Sri Thala area near Muzaffarabad, the provincial capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Police sources said that the accident occurred due to failure of brakes of the jeep, adding that those who died in the accident included two members of the same family.

According to official data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, around 9,000 road accidents are reported every year since 2011 in the country, killing more than 4,500 people on average annually.

--IANS

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