KARACHI: Seven picnickers, including three children, were killed and 14 others wounded when their coaster overturned after colliding with a trailer in the Mauripur area on Sunday, police and witnesses said.

Mauripur SHO Chaudhry Tufail told Dawn that the victims were relatives and they were on their way to the Hawkesbay beach for picnic.

He said that the accident took place near the truck stand when the trailer was taking a U-turn and the fast-moving coaster went out of the driver`s control, rammed into the heavy vehicle, hit a footpath and overturned.

The injured persons were taken to the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Trauma Centre of the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and a private hospital for treatment.

DIG-South Syed Asad Raza said that seven people were killed and 14 others suffered injuries in the accident.

The dead were identified as Sughra Ali, 40, Shazia Umer, 45, her daughter Kinza Umer, 10, Sakeena Manzoor, 6, Zeenat Hayat, 4, Qadeer Jabbar, 14, and a 40-year-old woman who could not be identified till late in the night.

The SHO said that the victims were residents of Bhingoria Goth in Azizabad.

He said that the trailer driver abandoned the heavy vehicle and managed to escape while the driver of the coaster was among the injured persons.

Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that condition of three injured females was critical.

CM, governor seek report Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah directed the CHK and JPMC administration for provision of best treatment to the injured persons.

He regretted that over-speeding had taken the lives of innocent personsin the accident.

He sought a detailed report about the accident from the inspector general of police and directed him to take strict action against reckless drivers.

`Driving licences of rash drivers should be cancelled,` he said.

Meanwhile, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori expressed deep sorrow over the tragic bus accident.

He asked the city commissioner and Karachi police chief for a detailed report about the accident.

He also instructed the relevant authorities to ensure that the injured receive best medical care.