The accident, which occurred around 1 pm on Sunday, involved mostly children, who were travelling to celebrate Eld El Maulud, a Muslim festival to mark the birth of Prophet Muhammad.

The bus they were travelling in lost control and colluded with an articulated vehicle due to overspeeding and overloading.

The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Kabiru Nadabo, had earlier said that 25 people died due to complications from the accident, while 48 others sustained varying degrees of injuries and were rushed to various hospitals in Kaduna, Jos and Kano for urgent medical attention.

However, the number of deaths rose to 40 on Tuesday as more victims of the accident died in the hospital where they were being treated.

Following the unfortunate incident, Governor Uba Sani directed the state commissioner of health to ensure that the remaining surviving children who sustained injuries from the road accident were given adequate medical attention.

The governor in a statement expressed his pain by the tragedy and said he would reach out to the families of the deceased to offer some assistance.

Meanwhile, the remains of the victims have been buried in the Lere Local Government Area, according to Islamic burial tradition.