ACCRA, May 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 people were killed in a bus-fuel tanker collision early Tuesday in southern Ghana's Central Region, an official confirmed.

Robert Nana Hackman, the director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), told Xinhua that the accident took place on the Accra-Cape Coast highway at around 5:15 a.m., local time, when a passenger bus heading to Accra, Ghana's capital, collided head-on with a fuel tanker.

"On the spot, we counted 16 people dead ... and a rescue team is still on the scene fighting to save those trapped in the wreckage," said the NADMO official, adding that the critically-injured passengers were receiving treatment at a hospital nearby.

He said the bus driver admitted that he felt drowsy and dozed off momentarily while the bus veered onto the tanker's path, which resulted in the collision.

"Police investigations will establish the actual cause of the accident," Hackman added.