Small buses are the main public transport in PNG Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins
14 people died after two buses collided at Tomba in Western Highlands in Papua New Guinea last Friday.
Five others, who are seriously hurt, are in Mt Hagen Hospital.
The police commander at Wapenamanda Inspector David Bill Leo said police retrieved the bodies of seven men and seven women from the accident site.
The National newspaper reports that a 10-seater vehicle, with just a driver and two female passengers, travelling from Enga to Mt Hagen, collided with a 25-seater bus laden with cargo and passengers.
It quotes the police inspector saying both vehicles are believed to have been travelling at high speed when they collided head-on.
The injured include a child.
Leo said the section of the road at Tomba is regarded as a "death trap" that drivers must be wary about.
He said many lives in Enga and Western Highlands have been lost on this section of the highway.