LAHORE: At least 10 people including six children died when a fireball erupted as a car collided with a tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) near Nankana Sahib on Wednesday, engulfing surrounding vehicles, officials said.

The accident took place as the car of an assistant sub-inspector and a constable travelling to Police Lines in Manawala, the capital of Sheikhupura district, collided with a tanker which caught fire.

The speeding car hit the tanker which was parked on the road leading to Manawala.

A rickshaw carrying 10 school children was also set ablaze while passing on the same road, rescue workers said, resulting in the deaths of six children.

District emergency officer (DEO) Sheikhupura Azam said a total of 10 people died in the collision and the resulting fire, including six children. A rescue worker had earlier put the death toll at 12.

Five of the 17 injured were shifted to district headquarters hospital Sheikhpura, while the remaining 13 were shifted to Allied Hospital in Faisalabad, the DEO said.

The bodies of the dead were badly charred.

Shops in the surrounding area caught fire and pedestrians were sprayed with petroleum.

A case has yet to be registered into the incident.

Heavy fog that descends upon central and northern Pakistan in winter is a leading cause of road accidents.

Pakistan also has an appalling record of fatal traffic accidents due to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

More than 4,600 people were killed in road traffic accidents in 2013, the last year the government released official data.