No fewer than 18 persons have perished, as they were burnt beyond recognition in an auto crash in Zakirai town, Gabasawa Local Government Area on Kano-Ringim Road in Kano State.

It was gathered that the accident occurred when two commercial vehicles, a Volkswagen Sharoon with a number plate, WRW 243 AA, and another Toyota bus with a number plate, XC 815 KMC, collided.

The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Sector Commander in Kano State, Ibrahim Abdullahi, who confirmed the incident in a statement by the command's spokesperson, Abdullahi Labaran, said 12 other passengers sustained injuries.

Abdullahi said a total of 35 passengers were involved in the accident out of which 18 lost their lives.

He said: "At 8:35p.m., on June 2, 2023, we received a distress call about the accident and we quickly dispatched our personnel and vehicle to the scene of the incident to rescue the victims at 8:47p.m.

"The accident occurred as a result of excessive speed, dangerous driving and overloading, which resulted in loss of control, leading to a head on collision and the Toyota bus bursting into flame immediately.

"The injured were taken to Murtala Mohammed General Hospital, while the corpses of the deceased were handed over to their relatives and were given mass burial near the scene of the crash."

The FRSC Sector Commander, who decried the number of road crashes recorded within the week in the state, warned drivers that FRSC would carry out investigations of the crash to find and prosecute the erring drivers to serve as deterrent to others.

He advised motorists to avoid over-speeding, overloading, wrongful overtaking, dangerous driving and any infraction that could lead to road crash.