KARACHI: At least eight women and children drowned Wednesday in Lyrai river, a sewage ravine after they were thrown from a speeding truck in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, officials said.

At least 12 people, including six children and six women, fell into the river, which serves a sewage outlet for the populous city, when the vehicle hit a side railing on the expressway.

The victims died after swallowing sewage water and mud.

“We received eight bodies of children and women and most of them died of suffocation,” said Dr Aftab Chunnar, the senior medical officer at the government Civil Hospital.

Two children and two women were in critical condition at the hospital, he said.

Pakistan has one of the world's worst records for fatal traffic accidents, blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.