Bus plunges off bridge in Benin, killing at least 27 people

At least 27 people have died in Benin after a bus plunged off a bridge into the Oueme River, rescuers said on Tuesday, updating the toll from the weekend crash that left dozens missing.

The director of the West African country's civil protection agency, Abdel Aziz Bio Djibril, told local Bip Radio that rescuers retrieved 23 bodies from the bus pulled from the water and another three from the river, adding to the one person found dead on Sunday.

Nine survivors had been taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Three children were among the dead, according to the daily newspaper La Nation.

Sixteen people still missing