Thirty-eight people died and 87 were injured when two buses collided near the town of Kaffrine in central Senegal on Sunday, a fire brigade official told AFP.

"It was a serious accident", said Colonel Cheikh Fall, who is in charge of operations for the West African country's National Fire Brigade.

"There were 125 victims, of whom 38 have died."

Following the accident, which took place on the No. 1 national road at 3.15 am local time (0315 GMT) Sunday morning, all the victims were evacuated to a Kaffrine hospital and medical centre, he said.

The wreckage and demolished buses have since been cleared and normal traffic has resumed, he said.

The governor and local officials have visited the scene, he added.

Road accidents are common in Senegal, largely because of driver indiscipline, poor roads and decrepit vehicles, say experts.

However this is one of the heaviest death tolls from a single incident in recent years.