LAHORE (AFP) - At least 14 people, including two children, were killed on Saturday when a train collided with a packed motorcycle rickshaw in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, officials said.

The passenger train travelling from the country's financial hub Karachi to Punjab capital Lahore crushed the rickshaw on a road crossing which had no barrier.

"The accident occurred in Khanpur town of district Sheikhupura, around 40 km northwest of Lahore," Mr Salim Niazi, a local police official, told AFP.

Officials said at least two children were among the dead.

"Twelve people died on the spot. Four people with critical injuries were taken to hospital, of whom two expired," Mr Muhammad Asim, a senior doctor at the local hospital, told AFP.

"Two of them were children under 12 years old," he said adding that many bodies were mutilated and unable to be identified.

Police said the rickshaw was over-capacity and drove onto the train track moments before the Lahore-bound train passed through, smashing into it.

"There was no gate at this crossing, (nor) a man to stop the traffic to clear a way for the train," said Mr Niazi.

Pakistan has a poor railway system with a track dating back to British rule and old coaches.

Many Pakistanis avoid travelling by train due to low safety standards and poor facilities.