At least 27 people were killed and forty injured today as two crowded buses collided head on in central Faridpur district in southwestern Bangladesh, officials and witnesses said.

Faridpur's police chief Awlad Ali, confirmed 25 deaths saying 21 of them died instantly while witnesses and journalists from the scene reported 27 deaths.

"At least 40 people are being treated at different facilities in Faridpur and conditions of several of them are critical," Ali told PTI.

The state-run BSS news agency quoting deputy commissioner Helal Uddin the accident took place as a Dhaka bound bus from central Madaripur district collided head on with another bus going to southwestern Barisal from the capital.