At least 12 corpses of passengers whose bus plunged into a river in southwestern Nigeria's Ogun State were recovered on Saturday.

The bodies were recovered during a nine-hour rescue operation, the spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the region, Ibrahim Farinloye, told Xinhua.

The bodies of 11 women and the driver were recovered from the Federal Urban Mass Scheme coaster bus, he added.

One of the survivors told rescue officials that there were 21 passengers in the bus, including the driver.

Farinloye said the agency would continue search for the remaining bodies.

Issa Seidu, the Ijebu-Ode Unit commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), said three persons were rescued Friday night and rushed to a private hospital in Ore town.

The FRSC commander attributed the accident to over-speeding.