Eleven members of Hadejia palace guards in Jigawa State and three others yesterday died during a ghastly auto crash which occurred along Kano-Hadejia Road.

The incident occurred in Zakirai town at about 9pm when the palace guards were on their way to Aminu Kano International Airport to receive the emir of Hadejia, His Highness Adamu Abubakar Maje who came back from Abuja.

Confirming the incident, the information officer of Hadejia Local government Muhammad Garba Talaki said that as a result of heavy downpour at that time the bus conveying the palace guards had a head-on collision with a petrol tanker coming from Kano to Hadejia and instantly caught fire and burned all the people involved in the accident beyond recognition.

He said the corpses of the guards had been taken to Hadejia for burial today.

•Credit (except for amended headline): Leadership.