According to the police, the passenger bus was going to Kohat from Hangu. The blast occurred near Jawarzah on Hangu-Kohat Road.
Sources said that more than 20 people were traveling in the bus. Eighteen people were killed and several others injured in the blast.
Security forces cordoned off the area immediately after the blast. Injured have been shifted to hospital.
The bus was completely destroyed in the blast. District police chief Abdul Rashid said that a bomb disposal team had been called in to investigate, but later confirmed that the blast was caused when the two vehicles collided, causing the gas explosion.