RAWALPINDI, Jan 11: Seven people were killed and 20 sustained injuries in three different road accidents in Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Sunday, police said.

In the first accident, five people were killed and 20 received injuries in a head-on collision between a passenger wagon and a dumper on GT road at Rawat.

According to doctors, the death toll could rise, as four of the injured were critically injured. Police and the survivors said the tie-rod of a dumper (LRC- 3845) heading towards Rawalpindi from Rawat broke down due to which it crashed into a passenger wagon (GTD-1232) coming from the opposite side. A car (STE-9500) and a wagon (RIR-206) also ploughed into the back of the wagon.

As a result, five persons including the wagon driver, Azhar Mehmood, died on the spot, while 20 others including two women were injured in the accident. People from the surrounding areas pulled out the victims trapped in the wreckage of the vehicles and shifted them to different hospitals in Rawalpindi.

The dead included Azhar Mehmood, 45, and Mohammad Hanif, 36, while three other victims were yet to be identified. The injured were Raja Omer, Mohammad Riaz, Zafar Shahid, Nosheela Bibi, Shah Zaib, Shahzada Gulfam, Rasheed, Tariq, Mohammad Bashir, Nazimuddina, Abdur Rehman, Ashraf, Kashif and Ehsanullah.

Raja Basharat, Punjab Minister for Law, and District Nazim Raja Tariq Kiani, who were passing through the road, stopped their journey and helped the rescuers to evacuate the people trapped in the damaged vehicles.

Later the district Nazim visited the DHQ Hospital and directed the hospital administration to provide medical aid to the injured. In the second accidents, Raheel Shaukat, 12, was injured after being hit by a speeding passenger van in G-6/1-2. The injured boy succumbed to injuries on way to the Federal Government Services Hospital (FGSH).

In the third accident, Javaid Iqbal, said to be in 30s, was hit by a speeding vehicle (AJK-9894) in front of Sihala College. He was taken to the FGSH, but he died before reaching the hospital.