ABUJA, April 29 (Xinhua) -- At least 19 bodies were recovered from the scene of a road crash where a truck and a bus collided head-on in Nigeria's central state of Kogi on Sunday, the traffic police said.

Three survivors were rescued, one of them seriously injured, from the scene along the Okene-Lokoja Highway in the state, Jonas Agwu, the national spokesman for the Federal Road Safety Corps, said in a statement obtained Monday morning by Xinhua.

Rescuers battled through an inferno occasioned by the impact of the crash for three hours, the traffic police statement said, noting "the victims were burned beyond recognition."

The truck heading from the southern part of the country "wrongfully overtook" a vehicle and collided head-on with the oncoming bus on a trip from the northern region, the traffic police said, citing a preliminary investigation.

The truck driver had been identified as one of the survivors and would face prosecution, the police added.

The remains of the victims were deposited at a local morgue in the area and the seriously injured one was being treated in a government hospital, the traffic police added.

Deadly road accidents are frequently reported in Nigeria, often caused by overloading, bad road conditions and reckless driving. Enditem

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