Six people have died while others sustained various degrees of injuries after the vehicle they were traveling in overturned in Chowe Hills in Mangochi Thursday night.

Mangochi Police Public Relations Officer, Sub-Inspector, Amina Tepani Daudi, said a Toyota Hino lorry, registration number NB 9698 carrying bags of maize and 12 people on board, overturned after hitting an embankment.

Daudi said the vehicle, driven by a man only identified as Patrick, was coming from the direction of Katuli heading Mangochi Boma.

“As the vehicle was descending Chowe Hills, the driver lost control of the vehicle and swerved to the offside of the road where it hit an embankment and overturned once,” she said.

“Following the impact, six passengers sustained severe head injuries and they were pronounced dead upon arrival at Mangochi District Hospital.”

The police have since identified one of the deceased as Lingson Majo, 32, from Kalanje Village, Traditional Authority Katuli in Mangochi.

Daudi said the bodies of the unidentified passengers are at Mangochi District Hospital mortuary waiting for identification by relatives.

Meanwhile, the driver is on the run after abandoning the vehicle.