ISLAMABAD, June 4 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and several others injured in a fatal road crash in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Monday afternoon, local media and police said.
Mehmood Ali Khokhar, the spokesperson for motorway police, said that the accident happened after a passenger van rammed into a truck on M-1 motorway in Attock district of the province.
"The passenger van caught fire as a result of the collision, killing eight people on spot and injuring at least six others," the spokesperson said, adding that the accident happened due to negligence of the van's driver as he fell asleep while driving.
Following the incident, fire brigade teams reached the spot and extinguished the fire.
Motorway Police and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital where they are being treated for their burn injuries.
Hospital officials said that the death toll could further rise as several among those injured are in critical condition.
A case has been registered against the driver for the negligence.
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.
