Rescuers in Benin Republic have recovered 10 additional bodies from a river where a bus plunged over the weekend, raising the confirmed death toll to 37, authorities confirmed on Wednesday.
According to Abdel Aziz Bio Djibril, Director of the Civil Protection Authority, six more people are still missing following the incident, which occurred in the night from Saturday to Sunday when the bus fell off a bridge into the Oueme River. Search efforts are ongoing in hopes of finding potential survivors.
“On the first day of rescue operations, 27 bodies were recovered, followed by 10 more on the second day, bringing the total to 37,” Bio Djibril said.
Nine passengers who survived the accident were hospitalized in stable condition on Sunday.
The bus, operated by STM, had departed from Lome, the capital of neighbouring Togo, carrying 52 passengers. The accident occurred on the main Interstate 2 road, which runs through Benin from the economic capital Cotonou to Malanville, on the northern border with Niger.
Bio Djibril noted that the passengers included many Nigeriens, as well as Beninese and possibly other foreign nationals. The accident comes amid a two-year-long diplomatic dispute between Niger and Benin, which has forced travelers heading to the Nigerien capital Niamey to disembark at Malanville and attempt to cross the border unofficially.
