16 Bodies Discovered After Boat Tragedy In Anambra State

At least 16 bodies have been found out of the 76 passengers reported missing in the boat catastrophe in Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State.

Contradicting the estimated figures, Mr Arinze Awogu, the former chairman of the Ogbaru local government area’s Transition Committee, provided the number of retrieved dead bodies as 13.

However, Eze Ogbugbulu, a local who claims to be on the scene at the rescue area, claimed that 16 bodies, including children, had been found.

76 people were reported missing after a boat overturned in the area over the weekend while carrying 85 passengers.

The majority of the passengers in the boat, according to Ogbugbulu, were farmers travelling home for the weekend who worked in farm communities and were not from their neighbourhood in Osamalla.

Ogbugbulu said, “To tell you the truth, majority of the people in that capsized boat are from Okpolodu camp in Ogwu-anocha, the last Community before Rivers State and Mputu.

“It is difficult to recover those bodies because some of the bodies will hang in some of the metals and trees inside the river.

“But as we talk now, we learnt 16 bodies were recovered late Saturday and we’re still waiting today (Sunday) to see what will happen. It’s a difficult situation for us.”

Chief Paul Odenigbo, the executive secretary of the state emergency management agency (SEMA) and a former secretary to the government of Anambra State, was unable to be reached for comment on the precise number of people who were rescued and those who were left.

SEMA said on Saturday that nine people had been saved from the accident, leaving 76 people missing out of the entire 85 passengers.