Pakistan, Aug. 23 -- Twelve people have died in less than a week in accidents in England and Ireland involving cars being driven the wrong way on major roads, amid a social media trend for "wrong-side" driving.

Seven people, including two serving police officers, died early on Saturday in a crash on the main A66 road near Middlesbrough in northeastern England, police said.

Authorities are investigating the exact circumstances but said the collision followed a pursuit of a suspicious vehicle which ended up being driven the wrong way and colliding with a police car that was on the correct side of the road.

The incident followed a fatal crash in Ireland last Sunday in which five teenagers died. Their car had been travelling the wrong way ...