NOWHERA, May 9: At least 14 people were killed and 20 others injured when a speeding 16-wheel trailer overturned after colliding with a van on the GT Road in Pabbi on Friday.

Most of the people killed in the accident were passersby or shopkeepers. Three of them died on way to hospital. Six of the critically injured people were taken to Peshawar.

The truck was carrying 90 tons of sugar from Peshawar to Nowshera.

The accident took place at the Ziarat stop, some 30 kilometers east of Peshawar, when the driver lost control and hit the van on the opposite lane of the road after smashing through the four-foot high median wall.

The trailer overturned after skidding off the main road, crossing the service road, running over pedestrians and hitting the roadside shops.

Local people and teams of the National Highway Police carried out the rescue operation. The authorities called in four cranes to lift the trailer and remove the victims trapped under the container after four hours hectic efforts.

The driver of the cargo trailer, Akhtar Jan of Landi Kotal, ran away after the accident.