Twenty-four people were in the two vehicles. Three came out alive.
The Federal Road Safety Corps confirmed that 21 people died in a head-on collision on the Zaria-Kano Expressway in Nigeria’s Kano State on Sunday, July 6, 2025. A heavy-duty DAF truck hit a commercial Toyota Hiace passenger bus at about 8:20 a.m. at Kasuwar Dogo, Dakatsale. A fire engulfed both vehicles, according to a separate report.
According to the corps’ statement, signed by public education officer Olusegun Ogungbemide, those who died were 19 men and two women. The three survivors were pulled out with injuries and rushed to a government hospital. The bodies were taken to Nasarawa Hospital in Kano. Rescue teams worked with other emergency responders to clear the road and get traffic moving again.
Who was at fault
Officials pointed at the bus. Preliminary investigations by the corps’ rescue and crash investigation team found that the driver committed a “route violation”, driving against the flow of traffic, and so hit the oncoming truck head-on. Muhammed Bature, the Kano State sector commander, gave the same cause.
Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed offered condolences to the victims’ families and said full investigations into the cause were continuing.
The corps used the occasion to warn drivers again. It singled out truck and commercial drivers, naming route violations, driving against traffic, speeding and reckless overtaking as practices that “continue to claim innocent lives on Nigerian roads”. It promised more enforcement and public education, and asked motorists to report dangerous driving through its mobile app, to its toll-free number 122, or to any patrol team.
Road crashes are a frequent occurrence in Nigeria, often linked to overloading, poor road conditions and reckless driving.
Sources
- Nigeria: 21 killed in fiery head-on crash between truck and bus in Kano
- 21 killed in Zaria-Kano Expressway crash, three injured
