20 people have reportedly died after a bus crashed into a broken-down lorry in Chad on Thursday night, BBC.com reports.

Seven others were also injured during the accident.

The accident occurred on a road between Abéché and Oum-hadjer in the northeast of the country.

According to Chad's transport minister, Fatimé Goukouni Weddeye, the bus was carrying 31 passengers.

She says the accident was caused by driver's failure to comply with road safety rules in the case of a vehicle breakdown, speeding, overloading, fatigue, and recklessness of the driver.