MIANWALI: At least 18 people were killed and fourteen others injured when a speeding bus collided with a trailer in Punjab's Mianwali district on Wednesday.

The passenger bus was going to Islamabad from Karachi. On Mianwali's M.M Road, it crashed into a trailer after the driver lost control over the steering due to over-speeding, police sources said.

18 passengers died on the spot while fourteen others were injured, police sources told DawnNews.

Police and rescue workers started the rescue operation and shifted the dead bodies and injured to a nearby hospital.

Pakistan has an appalling record of fatal traffic accidents due to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving. Crashes killing dozens of people are not uncommon.

Close to 9,000 road accidents are reported to the police every year since 2011, killing over 4,500 people on average, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).