At least 14 persons have been confirmed dead following a road accident at Ewu in southeast Nigeria's Edo State on Friday.

An eyewitness told reporters on Saturday that the accident occurred when articulated vehicle carrying bitumen collided with the 14-seater commercial Hiace bus.

The witness said the brakes of the articulated failed and the driver lost control and crashed into an on-coming East bound bus from Abuja.

The witness said all the 14 occupants of the bus lost their lives, while the driver of the tanker could not be found and his motor boy sustained injuries.

The scene was a gory sight as bodies of some of the victims were badly mutilated, he added.

Out Eko, the unit head of the Federal Road Safety Commission ( FRSC) confirmed the incident and said the driver of the tanker must have been over speeding when the brakes failed.

The impact was so serious that some of the victims were torn into two, with others mutilated beyond recognition, he told reporters.

"We met the police here I cannot really tell how this all happened, but over speeding cannot be ruled out," the road official said.