FAISALABAD, Feb 21: Nine persons were killed and nine others were injured when their vehicle overturned after hitting a truck on the Motorway near Sahianwala , about 20 kilometres away from here, early Saturday.

It was learnt that a group of shopkeepers from the Anarkali Bazar had gone to Lahore to attend a marriage ceremony and were on their way back to Faisalabad when the accident occurred. Their driver lost control over the vehicle as he tried to overtake a truck.

Nine of the occupants - Kamal Abdul Shakir, Malik Nazir Ahmed, Shams Iqbal, Shahid Saleem, Mohammad Nazir, Javaid Sheikh, Ijaz alias Jaji, Anwar and Kashif Ahmed - died on the spot.

Those, who were injured, were identified as Shahid Ali, Mohammad Rafique, Mohammad Farooq, Shamshad Ali, Mansha, Nazir Ahmed, Abdullah, Anwar Ali and Jamshed.

They were rushed to a hospital where the condition of Shamshad and Shahid was stated to be critical.

The traders of Anarkali and adjoining markets closed their shops on Saturday to mourn the deaths of their colleagues.