Twenty more bodies of passengers of a boat that capsised on Tuesday in Niger State, North central Nigeria were recovered on Thursday as community members recalled harrowing experiences of the disaster.
The ill-fated wooden boat was conveying about 300 passengers from Kwara State to an event in neighbouring Niger State when it capsised at Gbajibo in Mokwa LGA of Niger State.
The recovery by local divers and officials of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) took the number of recovered bodies to 36, according to the state agency.
The Director-General of NSEMA, Abdullahi Baba-Arah, said 16 bodies, comprising two females and 14 males, had earlier been recovered a day after the accident on Wednesday and buried in the Biger State side of the Gbajibo community.
He said 20 more bodies were recovered on Thursday by local divers working with the officials of NSEMA and NEMA, bringing the total number of deaths to 36.
