Fifteen people, including children, were killed and 40 others injured in a vehicle pile-up in the northern city of Mzuzu in Malawi Friday evening, hospital authorities confirmed.

The accident involved a lorry carrying passengers, two commuter minibuses and a tipper belonging to a construction company.

According to police in Mzuzu, the construction vehicle hit the two minibus commuters, one of which was carrying Christian Sunday School children who were heading to the border district of Karonga for a choir festival.

Reports also say the tailgate of the speeding lorry opened as the vehicle swerved to avoid the pile up, throwing out its passengers onto the tarmac in the process.

Mzuzu Central Hospital Administrator, Timothy Soko, told local media Friday evening that 6 people died at the hospital while 9 others were killed on the spot.

The forty who have sustained serious injuries are being treated at the northern region's referral hospital.

Source : XINHUA