Newlyweds among 18 killed in Katsina road crash after wedding

Eighteen people have died following a head-on collision between two commercial vehicles along the Dutsinma–Karofi–Radda Road in Katsina State.

The crash occurred around 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, 2026, when two Golf vehicles travelling in opposite directions reportedly lost control and collided.

Sources said one of the vehicles was carrying wedding guests from Dutsinma, while the other was transporting passengers from Kano.

Both vehicles caught fire after the impact, leaving at least three passengers severely burnt. The deceased were taken to the General Hospital in Dutsinma.

Some of the victims have been identified as a groom, his bride and several of their friends.

A friend of the groom, Zakari Haradu Aboro, said the couple and their friends were travelling from Dutsinma to Kafin Soli when the accident happened shortly after the wedding ceremony.

He said they received a phone call informing them that the owner of the phone had died in an accident, and later realised it was one of their friends who had been in the vehicle with the groom.

By the time they approached the scene, he said, news had already spread that the vehicle conveying the groom and his friends had been involved in a fatal crash, with multiple deaths reported.