At least 31 people, mostly labourers who were going home to celebrate Id-ul Zuha, were killed and more than 60 injured on Monday when an overcrowded passenger bus collided with a trailer truck on a highway in Dera Ghazi Khan district of Punjab province.

The bus was en route from Sialkot to Rajanpur when the accident took place on the Indus highway near Taunsa bypass in Dera Ghazi Khan district, 430km from Lahore.

The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital where medical staff confirmed the death of 18 people upon their arrival.

Minister of information and broadcasting of Pakistan Fawad Chaudhry in a tweet confirmed that at least 30 people have lost their lives in the accident near Dera Ghazi Khan. He appealed to public vehicle drivers to drive carefully for the safety of passengers.

District emergency officer rescue Dr Nayyar Alam was quoted as saying by Geo News that 75 passengers were on board the bus.

Quoting an injured passenger, a police official said the driver of the bus seemed to have fallen asleep and lost control over the vehicle.

Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar expressed grief over the accident but didn’t announce any compensation for the victims. Interior minister Sheikh Rashid also expressed sorrow over the deaths in the accident.