Twenty people were burnt to death in an auto accident along Potiskum-Sade Road in Misau Local Government Area of Bauchi State on Friday night.

Although the exact cause of the accident was not known, it was learnt that the two vehicles had a head-on collision, leading to the death of their occupants.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Bauchi State Command, Kamal Abubakar, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Saturday evening.

He said the accident involved two buses – a J5 bus and an 18-seater Hummer bus.

Abubakar, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said: “The accident occurred around 9.30pm last night (Friday). It was a head-on collision between a J5 bus and an 18-seater Hummer bus.

“The J5 was coming from Potiskum heading towards Bauchi. It was conveying goats while the Hummer bus was coming from Bauchi. They had a head-on collision and then caught fire. Twenty people were burnt beyond recognition.”

Asked about the identity of the deceased, he said he could not give that information at that time.

“Nineteen corpses were recognised by family members through the manifest in which they wrote their details at the motor park,” he added.

The police spokesman said that a mass burial was held for the deceased around 9am on Saturday at Darazo in Darazo Local Government Area of the state.