By OBINNA UNAEZE

The Niger Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) on Monday said the death toll from Sunday’s boat mishap in Mokwa Local Government Area had risen to 30 from 24.

Alhaji Garba Salihu, NSEMA’s acting Director General, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna.

He said that the agency had so far rescued 30 persons in Gbajibo area where the incident occurred.

“Yesterday, I told you that we have recovered 24 corpses, but that same day it later increased to 26 dead bodies.

“Today, we recovered four more corpses, making 30 in all,” Salihu said.

The acting director general said that 27 of the deceased were women, while three were male children.

Salihu dispelled the rumour making the rounds that 100 passengers boarded the ill-fated boat.

“For now, nobody knows the number of passengers on that boat. Many people entered the boat, so knowing the actual number of passengers on board will be difficult,” he said.

Salihu said that the agency had stopped searching for the victims of the boat mishap, pending when the need arose.

NAN also reports that the victims were from Gbajibo, Ekwa and Yankyade communities who were on their way to their farms at the other side of river Niger (old Gbajibo) when the incident occurred. (NAN)