Ten people were killed and seven others seriously injured when a lorry collided with a passenger van at north of the Sri Lanka capital Colombo Sunday morning, police said.

The van, carrying 17 passengers and heading to the capital from the north central city of Anuradhapura, had a head-on collision with a lorry at Weliweriya, 30 km north of Colombo.

Chief of the Weliweriya police Sanjeewa Dharmaratna said the lorry driver had been under the influence of alcohol and had defied a police order to halt the lorry before knocking on the ill fated van.

Those injured have been admitted to the Gampaha and Colombo hospitals, police added.

Source: Xinhua