BAHAWALPUR, Feb 7: Seven people were killed while 10 others sustained injuries, six of them serious, when a commuter wagon rammed into a tree on Thursday night.

The wagon, coming to Bahawalpur from Ahmadpur East, was reportedly packed to capacity. When it reached near Mauza Noorpur, about 35 kilometres from here, on the Ahmadpur East Road, two wheels separated from a trailer hit it. The wagon driver lost control over steering and the wagon overturned. The vehicle then hit a roadside tree as a result of which six people died on the spot. The seventh passenger died in a hospital.

The dead are driver Nawaz, Dr Farooq Azam, Ahsan Hashmi and Tariq Abbasi. The other dead have not yet been identified. Four of the seriously injured passengers are Azam, Ilyas, Mumtaz and Arif.

Dr Farooq was the medical officer of Bahawal Victoria Hospital.