Ten people were burnt beyond recognition while six others sustained serious injuries when a petrol tanker went up in flames in Felele area of Lokoja on Friday.
The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, in Kogi State, Segun Martins, who confirmed in Lokoja, said most of the victims were passengers travelling in an 18-seater commercial bus.
Also affected were one commercial tricycle operator, the driver and a motorboy of the fuel tanker.
He said the death toll might rise as some of those who sustained injuries were in critical situation.
Martins said the dead and injured victims were moved to various hospitals in Lokoja.
The accident was due to a head-on collision between the bus, coming from Abuja, and the tanker coming from the opposite direction.
The impact of the collision, according to eyewitnesses, ignited the fire which spread to other vehicles while the entire area was covered by smoke for many hours.
Men of the Kogi State Fire Service, who arrived the scene at about 2:20pm, were unable to douse the raging inferno as their tankers did not have water.
The accident led to disruption in vehicular movement on the busy Okene -Lokoja -Abuja road.
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