By Jimitota Onoyume
PORT HARCOURT— ABOUT 30 corpses recovered from Nkpo River after Tuesday’s boat mishap in Rivers State, were given mass burial close to the river on Wednesday night. 25 of the corpses were recovered by the police search and rescue team.

Chairman of Rumuolumeni Community Development Committee, Mr. Amadi Chima, who confirmed this to  Vanguard,yesterday, said the families of some of the corpses approached the community to allow them bury them by the river side since their tradition forbade burial of such corpses outside such areas.

When asked if he could lead Vanguard to any of the family members in the community, he said no family from Mgbuoduhia was a victim.

Mr. Chima said: “Most of the people who died were strangers. So it will be difficult tracing their family members.

“We allowed them to bury them by the river-side before you came.”

Amadi, who blamed the sad development on the deplorable state of the only road that connects the community with Whippy Junction in Port Harcourt, appealed to  Rivers State government to carry out rehabilitation work on the road.

He said those who died in the mishap were avoiding the bad road and the attendant traffic gridlock. According to him, the people of the area voted massively for the governor in the last governorship election, adding that they should, therefore, not be denied democracy dividends accruing from such massive support.

On its part, Rivers State Police Command said 26 corpses had so far been recovered by their search and rescue team.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent, DSP Ben Ugugbulam, told Vanguard that one of the deceased was a six-year- old girl.

He said the police were still searching for more bodies.

Ugugbulam said: “At 11.45am today (yesterday), 26 bodies, including that of a six-year-old girl, was recovered by the search and rescue team.”

A wooden boat conveying some passengers capsized at 9pm on Tuesday at the Nkpor River, with about 45 of the passengers reportedly missing.

The Police had initially maintained that only two persons died in the boat mishap. While eye witnesses put the death toll at over 20.

It took the combined effort of security operatives in the state and local divers to recover the corpses.

Meantime, Rivers State government has commiserated with the Rumuolumeni community.

Governor Chibuike Amaechi, who spoke through his Commissioner for Health, Dr Samson Parker, at the palace of  Nyenweli of Rumuolumeni, Eze Ndubueze Wobo Olumeni (JP) after a visit to the scene of the incident, assured that the government would take steps to guard against a reccurrence.

He said: “In such a sad incident, a lot of lives have been lost. I have been to the site. It is not easy for anybody to erase the deep pains that may be going through your heart and the families who have lost their loved ones.”