At least nine people including women and children were on Monday killed when an ambulance rammed into a lorry in Southern Pakistan, police said.
Local police officer Khalid Iqbal said that the accident, which occurred in the early morning hours in Punjab province’s Mianwali district, left all passengers of the ambulance dead.
“The ambulance carrying a patients and attendants, all from the same family, have died in the accident,’’ Iqbal said.
The ambulance’s compressed natural gas (CNG), which powered it, exploded after colliding with the lorry.
A process was under way to identify the dead which include men, women and children, police said.
The cause of the accident is not known yet.
In August, Pakistan’s oil and gas regulator imposed a ban on use of CNG a clean and cheap source of energy, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by all public service vehicles.
The ban was imposed due to safety concerns of ill-maintained gas cylinders and an increase in the number of accidents.
Road accidents are common in Pakistan due to a lack of adequate infrastructure, poorly maintained vehicles and careless driving.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, around 9,000 road accidents are reported every year, killing around 4,000 people.
dpa/NAN
