TAXILA, Nov 29: At least 12 passengers were burnt to death and seven others suffered severe injuries when a van going from Wah Cantonment to Rawalpindi burst into flames and overturned after hitting a tree along the GT Road on Tuesday morning.

According to DSP Mohammad Iqbal of the National Highway and Motorway Police, the van caught fire near Taxila after its CNG cylinder exploded. The driver lost control and the vehicle hit the footpath. It dragged onto the footpath for some distance and caught fire.

He said the injured, two women and a child among them, were taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in Islamabad.

Rescue teams had to use machinery to remove parts of the vehicle in order to take out the bodies.

The police official attributed the accident to the use of substandard CNG cylinder.

Most of the deceased belonged to Wah Cantonment and their funerals were offered at different places in the town.

The victims included Faisal Iqbal, Asim Shafi, Shahzad Sadeeq, Shahzad Mansab and Younas Masih of Wah Cantt; Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Shehzad, Zaheeruddin and Arshad Iqbal.

The official said other bodies are burnt beyond recognition and would be identified after forensic and DNA tests.

In a similar accident on June 6, two women died and 5 others were injured when a fire broke out in a Rawalpindi-bound van because of a leakage in the CNG cylinder near Margalla hills in Taxila.