KARACHI: Ten people of a family — five children and five women — were killed when they fell into the Lyari river from a speeding mini-truck here on Wednesday.

Six other people received critical injuries in the accident, which occurred when the vehicle was on Lyari Expressway.

The ill-fated family was travelling from New Subzi Mandi to Lea Market for an onward journey to Mastung, Balochistan, to attend a marriage ceremony.

Officials and witnesses said the driver violated rules by transporting passengers in a goods carrier.

According to the DIG of Motorway Police, A.D. Khawaja, the tragedy occurred when the driver took a turn near the Garden interchange. The passengers sitting in the middle of plastic goods fell into Lyari riverbed as the truck lost balance. The driver escaped.

But a relative of the family told Dawn at the Civil Hospital that the accident took place when the truck driver tried to avoid a collision with a police mobile coming from a wrong direction on the Expressway.