19 people killed as boat capsizes in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — At least 19 people drowned when their boat sank in a river in Ethiopia's northern Amhara region Saturday, the region's official media said Sunday.  


"Seven people including a child were saved in difficult circumstances," the Amhara Media Corporation (AMC) added, quoting a local administrator.


The boat was taking passengers across the Tekeze river, which runs along Ethiopia's border with Eritrea before it crosses into Sudan at the point where the three countries meet.


Officials said that 26 people were estimated to have been on board the boat at the time of the accident at around noon (0900 GMT) on Saturday.   


Only two bodies have been recovered, AMC said, adding that those rescued had been taken to nearby hospitals.  


Media access to remote northern Ethiopia is heavily restricted by the authorities, with information often trickling in hours later.  


Amhara — Ethiopia's second most populous region — has been wracked for months by clashes between the Ethiopian military and an ethnic Amhara militia known as Fano.


It was also caught up in the neighboring region Tigray's war, with its regional forces fighting alongside federal government troops against Tigrayan rebels.


The boat accident is the second major incident in Ethiopia in recent days. On Monday, a landslide in the south killed over 250 people.