Six more people are still missing after the bus fell off a bridge into the Oueme River in the night from Saturday to Sunday, said the civil protection authority’s director Abdel Aziz Bio Djibril.

He added that searches were ongoing for any potential survivors.

“On the first day, 27 bodies were fished out, and on the second day, 10 bodies, which makes a total of 37 bodies fished out,” said Bio Djibril.

Nine survivors were taken to hospital on Sunday in a stable condition.

The bus, managed by the company STM, set off from neighbouring Togo’s capital Lome with 52 passengers onboard.

The accident happened on the main Interstate 2 road, which crosses the country from the economic capital Cotonou to Malanville in the north, on the border with Niger.

“There are many Nigeriens among the passengers, but also Beninese and likely other foreign nationals,” said Bio Djibril.

Niger is locked in a border standoff with Benin as a result of a two-year-long diplomatic spat.

As a result, passengers hoping to get to the Nigerien capital Niamey are generally obliged to disembark at Malanville and pass the border undetected to continue their journey.