Reports from northern Ethiopia say at least 19 people have drowned after their boat sank in the Amhara region.

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

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

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.

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