Ethiopia boat disaster kills 19 in Amhara region

Reports from northern Ethiopia say at least 12 people have drowned after their boat sank in the Amhara region.

The wooden vessel was taking passengers to a funeral across the Tekeze river, which runs along Ethiopia’s border with Eritrea.

The boat was hit by a flash flood and capsized on Saturday.

Twenty-six people were thought to have been on board when the accident happened.

The survivors were taken to hospital for treatment, reports the Amhara Media Corporation (AMC), including a “severely wounded” child.

It was not yet clear on Sunday if all the bodies of those who died had been recovered from the water.

Work on an out-of-use bridge which spans the Tekeze river was due to be finished last month, but had been delayed, a local official told AMC.

Media access to northern Ethiopia is heavily restricted by the authorities.

The region has seen recent clashes between the military and an ethnic Amhara militia known as the Fano.