The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) yesterday confirmed the death of 16 people in an auto crash that occurred on Tuesday night in Odigbo Local Council of Ondo State.

The victims, who were passengers of an 18-seater Toyota Hiace bus, were burnt to death in the crash, which occurred along the busy Ore-Ondo highway at the Ajue axis of the state.

According to sources, the passenger bus was at top speed and had a head-on collision with a heavy-duty truck. The commercial bus was engulfed in flames afterwards.

One of the sources, who identified himself as Akinsanmi, disclosed that three people were injured in the crash. He said: “The bus driver was speeding when he overtook a vehicle in front of him. But when he realised it was too late to make it, he could not avoid the truck and rammed into it. The impact was so severe that it resulted in an immediate fire, trapping many passengers inside the vehicle.”

The state’s Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Samuel Ibitoye, attributed the cause of the accident to overspeeding and wrongful overtaking, adding that two individuals survived the crash.