Ten dead as bus rams rickshaw

A speeding bus rammed a crowded auto rickshaw on a road in eastern Pakistan today, killing all 10 people in the rickshaw, police said.

The rickshaw was overtaking a truck when the oncoming bus rammed into it near Multan, a major city in eastern Punjab province, local police official Naeem Babar said.

The rickshaw’s driver and seven other people in the three-wheel vehicle died at the scene of the crash while two children died later at a local hospital, Babar said. No one on the bus was injured.

Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan and many are blamed on widespread disregard for traffic laws.

Rickshaws, which are intended to carry six passengers, often carry far more people.

They are a common mode of transportation for villagers travelling to nearby towns in rural areas in Pakistan.