No fewer than nine passengers were burnt beyond recognition as two vehicles driving from opposite directions, collided in Bauchi.

The autocrash was confirmed by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in its First Information Report (FIR) of Road Traffic Crash (RTC) issued on Tuesday by RS12.1 Bauchi Sector Command of the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC),

According to the FIR, the crash occurred on Monday and was reported at 11:25pm while operative of the FRSC arrived the scene at 11:40pm, making a response time of 15 mins.

The crash occurred close to Zangoro Village along the Bauchi -Maiduguri Federal Highway involving two vehicles, a Toyota bus with registration number DRZ133LG used for commercial purposes and a Man Diesel tipper with no registration number used for the commercial purpose of sand haulage.

According to the FRSC, the crash involved 17 male adults out which nine were confirmed death, burnt beyond recognition while eight others were variously injured.

The FRSC identified tyre burst (TBT) while in motion as the provable cause of the RTC, while the vehicles and properties recovered from the scene were handed over to the motor traffic division (MTD) of the State Police Command for further investigation and diligent prosecution.

The main action taken by the FRSC rescue team was to ascertain the details of the crash victims who were later identified on Tuesday and other victims taken to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) for medical attention while the dead bodies were deposited at the morgue during the operation led by SRMA SA Toro.