Six primary-school students were killed and 14 others were injured when a refrigerator truck veered into a group of children in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The driver lost control after the truck’s brakes failed and plowed into a group of students from a nearby primary school who were walking on the roadside in the town of Hartha, on the northern outskirts of Basra, police and witnesses said.

Hospital sources said some of the wounded children are in critical condition with severe head injuries.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered an immediate investigation into the fatal accident, his office said in a statement.