At least four passengers were killed and 25 injured in a road accident on Hyderabad bypass in the vicinity of Matli town on Sunday, when a passenger coaster and tractor trolley collided head-on, police said.

The collision — which took place in the late afternoon — reportedly occurred due to the undergoing development work at the road which has made the path narrow and rocky, creating a precarious situation for commuters.

Those who died in the fatal road accident include Mahduri, 30; Nadeem Magsi, 10; Khamoon Mallah, 70; and Momal Magsi, 40. 

At least 25 passengers injured in the accident were rushed to Taluka hospital in Matli, from where 15 persons who suffered major injuries were referred to Hyderabad for further treatment.

Hospital officials in Hyderabad said eight of the 15 are said to be in critical condition.

SHO Matli police Hakim Ali Jalbani when contacted told Dawn that both vehicles had been impounded, however, the drivers had managed to flee from the scene. 

Many road accidents have occured in the Hyderabad vicinity over the years with the lead causes being ignorance of traffic laws and reckless driving.

In November 2012, seven persons were killed while eight others sustained injuries when a speedy, overcrowded van overturned near Jhangara, 140 km from Hyderabad.

The incident took place as a group of mourners was coming back to their homes from Sehwan after attending a Muharram Majlis.

Similarly in March 2015, a labourer was killed when a truck hit him on the Hyderabad bypass. The victim was shifting bundles of newspapers from one van to another when the accident took place.

In July last year, an oil tanker carrying 40,000 litres of car fuel overturned on Motorway M-9 near Hyderabad killing its driver on the spot.

Police attributed the accident to the negligence of the driver.

Late last year, eight members of a family and the driver of the van they were travelling in were killed and four others injured in an accident on the Karachi-Hyderabad highway (M-9 Motorway).

According to sources, the van was coming down from an elevated point on the motorway when the driver lost control over the wheel and the vehicle ploughed into a truck.

A source in the Motorway police said that the place where the accident occurred was considered one of the dangerous points on the newly constructed motorway where such accidents had been reported in the past.

He said drivers often faced difficulty while descending from this higher point on the motorway.