Three buses and a truck collided Monday in central Nigeria, killing more than 100 people in the impact and the fiery explosion that followed, authorities said.

State television showed charred remains of some victims of the accident, which happened shortly after midnight Sunday about 60 miles outside the capital, Abuja.

Authorities said the buses all had been carrying passengers on long-distance journeys, and said one was carrying 70 passengers. They said other circumstances of the accident were still unclear.

Samuel Adetoye, police commissioner of Kogi state, where the accident occurred, asked families who had relatives traveling in the area to visit hospital morgues to try to identify the dead. Authorities had yet to determine an exact death toll.

A mass burial was planned Tuesday for the victims whose remains were unclaimed, Adetoye said.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, has chaotic roadways that see frequent accidents with high death tolls.

(China Daily September 9, 2003)