ISLAMABAD, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people were killed and 15 others injured in two separate road accidents in Pakistan's east Punjab and south Sindh provinces on Friday, local Urdu media reported.
According to National Highway Authority officials and Motorway Police, an over-speeding passenger van crashed into a tree after the driver lost control of the vehicle during an attempt to overtake another vehicle in Hassan Abdal city of Punjab.
Five people were dead on the spot while 12 others were injured.
Rescue personnel shifted the bodies and the injured to a nearby hospital where four more injured people succumbed to their wounds, raising the death toll to nine.
In another accident in Jamshoro district of Sindh Province, three people were killed and seven others injured when a passenger coach collided with a container on Jamshoro super highway.
Pakistani authorities said that road accidents frequently happen due to poorly maintained roads, violation of road safety rules and reckless driving.
According to latest data available with the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, over 9,000 road accidents were reported to police every year, killing on average around 5,000 people annually in the country. Traffic police officials said that 90 percent of the accidents in Pakistan were caused merely by human errors.
