Road accidents kill 15 in Pakistan

MULTAN, Pakistan – Pakistani officials say at least 15 people, mostly women and schoolgirls, were killed in two separate road accidents.

Police officer Mohammad Tahir said a speeding bus rammed into a van carrying schoolgirls near the city of Sargodha on Tuesday, killing six girls and the van driver, and seriously wounding three other girls. Onlookers torched the bus and block the road in protest.

In a separate accident near the city of Kandhkot, an overloaded rickshaw was struck by a train, which killed six women and two children. Police officer Haider Ali says seven others were hospitalized.

Road accidents are common in Pakistan, where drivers often flout traffic laws.