Seven people are confirmed dead and seven others injured in a ghastly motor accident involving a truck and a commercial bus carrying 14 passengers in southern Nigerian state of Cross River, local authorities said on Wednesday.

Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Lawrence Ikechukwu told reporters in Calabar, the state capital, that the driver of the bus tried to avoid the truck and ran into the bush but the truck lost control and followed them into the bush, crushing the bus and seven people died.

The bus driver was on the right hand side of the road and the truck driver was over taking dangerously and carelessly, the road official said, adding all the injured have been hospitalized.

Nigeria records high fatality rates for road accidents mainly due to shoddy highways, poorly maintained vehicles and violation of traffic rules by inept drivers. Enditem