The bodies of three medical students who went missing after the boat carrying them to their destination crashed in Cross River State’s Calabar area have been found.
The corpses are made up of two male and two female students.
Gyogon Grimah, the state Commissioner of Police, confirmed the development on Monday, saying, “The three corpses of the missing students have been recovered.” The cops have been working around the clock to find the missing children.”
Grimah also praised the community for their efforts in retrieving the students’ bodies and rescuing 11 victims of the disaster.
Meanwhile, the National Inland Waterways Authority, on Monday, confirmed the arrest of the operators of the boat that crashed in Calabar while conveying some medical students to a destination in the state on Saturday.
The General Manager, Corporate Communication, NIWA, Jibril Darda’u, in a statement, said preliminary investigations revealed that the crash was caused by overloading, engine malfunctioning, rainy weather, and heavy turbulence.
The statement read in part, “NIWA has since arrested the operators and sealed the jetty as the boat is not duly registered with NIWA, and the jetty is also not approved by NIWA. The 11 rescued victims were taken to hospital and they are now okay and discharged.
“We commiserate with the families, friends, loved ones, and the Medical Students Association for the loss of the three students. We pray to God Almighty to grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss and may the gentle souls of the departed rest in peace.
“We feel very sad to announce that NIWA’s search and rescue team recovered the three missing corpses of the medical students that were involved in the boat mishap on Saturday, June 24, 2023, in Calabar waterways.”