No fewer than 16 police recruits were yesterday burnt to death at Omua Aran in Irepodun Local Government Area (LGA) of Kwara State in a road accident involving a Mercedes Benz and a Hummer bus.

It was gathered that the Toyota Hummer bus, which conveyed the police recruits, was coming from Ilorin, the state capital, while a Mercedes Benz with registration number Kaduna AB347BKA came from another route and rammed into the police vehicle which caught fire instantly.

The police recruits were said to be Kwara natives trained at Police College, Ikeja, but had a detour to Ilorin en route Nasarawa State where they were posted.

An eyewitness, who said that the accident occurred at around 9am in front of the Federal Government Girls College, Omu-Aran, added that rescue operators came too late as 16 people were burnt to ashes and three survivors rushed to Omu-Aran General Hospital for treatment.

The spokesman of the state Police command, Fabode Femi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident.

He said the police was aware of the accident and that people died but could not confirm the number of the casualties at the time of filing this report.