17 die in Nigeria bus accident

Seventeen people have been killed and ten others wounded in an accident in central Nigeria involving two buses, officials say.

The Federal Road Safety Commission in Nigeria’s Kwara state said on Saturday that the two buses collided with a tanker lorry.

Officials said the two buses traveling from Lagos to Katsina collided with the empty tanker lorry in a village near Ilorin, the state capital.

“Seventeen people — all men — died on the spot while 10 others were injured,” said head of the Federal Road Safety Commission in Kwara state Mary Wakama.

Reports say two of those injured are in critical condition.

Although the cause of the accident is under investigation, Wakama added that driver fatigue may have led to the deadly incident.

Nigeria has one of the worst road accident records in Africa, with bad roads and poorly maintained vehicles playing major roles in the accidents.

Every year, thousands of people lose their lives as a result of road accidents in Nigeria.