ABUJA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people were killed early Monday when a truck and a bus collided near a village in Nigeria's north-central state of Kwara, the traffic police said.

       Stephen Dawulung, a commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Kwara, told reporters in the capital of Ilorin that at least 10 others sustained varying degrees of injury in the incident which occurred near the village of Iyemoja in the Moro local government area.

       The incident occurred due to "wrongful overtaking by the driver of the truck, leading to the head-on collision with the oncoming bus," Dawulung said, citing a preliminary investigation by the traffic police.

       All 10 deceased victims died on the spot, the traffic police official said, adding their remains had been deposited at a public mortuary while the injured were sent to a government hospital.

       Dawulung admonished drivers to avoid wrongful overtaking and excessive speeding, which he identified as "the major causes of fatal crashes" in that part of the most populous African country.