MULTAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Thirty-seven people were killed in Pakistan, most of them burned to death, when their bus taking them home for a Muslim holiday collided with a milk tanker, a senior government official said Tuesday.

The accident occurred Monday night in Muzaffargarh district, about 440 km (275 miles) southwest of the capital, Islamabad. Among the dead were nine children and three women.

"Most of the deaths occurred as many passengers were sleeping and the bus caught fire," Tariq Javed, a senior district government official, told Reuters by telephone.