No fewer than 18 persons were reported to have died Friday after an 18-seater commercial bus and a tanker conveying diesel collided along the Owerri-Orlu road in Imo state.
Eyewitness accounts say immediately the collision occurred, the tanker caught fire and both vehicles went into flames.
According to the eye witness, the trailer which was conveying about 50,000 liters of diesel lost control on the Njaba Bridge and rammed into the oncoming commercial bus conveying 18-passengers.
The Imo state sector commander of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Kayode Aremu, said his men have been deployed to the scene to ensure that traffic is been controlled in the area and that all casualties are taken to the mortuary.
The number of casualties is however, yet to be ascertained.