34 killed in Nigeria road accident

Nigeria's road commission said Friday that 34 people died in a road accident on the Rijau-Kontagora road in central north Niger state.

State commander for the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Pius Bagoohlepeng told reporters in Minna, the state capital, that the accident involved 78 people with 34 reported dead on the spot while 30 were injured, Xinhua reported.

He said both the remains of the dead and the injured have been conveyed to the hospital.

According to him, the accident involved two articulated vehicles, a trailer conveying cattle and an oil tanker.

The vehicles had a head on collusion, which sent the trailer tumbling into the bridge bed at about 11 p.m. Wednesday, he said.

He added that the driver of the trailer was believed to be on high speed, minutes before the crash.

Road accidents take place frequently in Nigeria due to reckless driving, bad road conditions and over packing. More than 1,000 are killed on the road each year in the country.