MULTAN, Dec 3: Twelve passengers were feared drowned when a van plunged into a canal in the Layyah district on Sunday.

A police official said the vehicle carrying 18 people fell into the Mundha Branch canal near Chak 111, some 60km from Layyah, after a possible malfunctioning of its tie-rod.

He said that five children and a woman were among the dead who were identified as Ashiq Ali, 32, Mansoor Akhtar, 8, Rida Akhtar, 12, Qasim Ali, 11, Muhammad Zubair, 6, Saffeyya Bibi, 32, Misbah Jabeen, 9, Khadim Hussain Bhatti, 42, Muhammad Mursaleen, 21, Nazar Hussain, 45, and Zahoor Hussain, 36.

Only two bodies could be fished out while search for the rest was on till 11pm. Six passengers managed to swim to safety.