SHEIKHUPURA, Aug 31: Twelve passengers, six of them children, were killed when an overcrowded bus skidded of the passage and rolled into a drain along Muridke-Narowal Road on Sunday.

The accident that took place near Bakoo Deall village also left 50 passengers injured.

Reports said a bus, packed beyond capacity, was on its way to Narowal from Lahore when it plunged into a drain as the driver lost control in a bid to save a peter-engine rickshaw.

As a result, 12 passengers, including Faryad, Razia Bibi, Hamida Bibi and six children, died on the spot while more than 50 other bus occupants suffered injuries.

EDO Zafar Iqbal Khokhar informed this correspondent that a state of emergency had been declared at the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital. Most of the injured passengers had been shifted to the Mayo Hospital, Lahore.

Rescue teams took out the bodies from the drain.