Kano - At least 42 people died when a petrol tanker collided with a luxury bus and a truck in southern Nigeria, authorities said on Saturday.
Most of the victims in Friday's accident at the village of Ugbogui were passengers on the bus and burned to death.
The collision occurred on the Benin-Ore road, which links the port city of Lagos with south-eastern Nigeria, said a Federal Road Safety Commission official in Benin, capital of Edo state.
The cause of the accident was being investigated, but Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper said the bus and truck were vying for the right of way when the petrol tanker rammed into the vehicles and exploded.
Other reports said a tyre of the truck came lose and the vehicle ran into the tanker, causing it to burst into flames. The bus then collided with the other vehicles, they said.
Traffic accidents are common in Africa's most populous nation. Earlier this week, at least 18 people died when two buses collided head-on in the capital, Abuja. - Sapa-dpa