At least six people have been confirmed dead and 15 others rescued after a canoe capsized in a local government area of Jigawa State, in north-western Nigeria.
About 40 passengers were reportedly aboard the canoe before it overturned, according to officials, in one of the deadliest waterway accidents to hit the state in recent times.
Concerns are emerging over a possible case of overloading, with the number of people on board said to have exceeded what the canoe could safely carry when it went down.
Officials of the Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency have been deployed to the scene and are continuing search and rescue operations to locate those who are still missing.
According to the Commissioner for Special Duties, Awwal Sankara, the rescue mission will continue until all the victims are accounted for, with teams working to recover any passengers still unaccounted for after the accident.
Local officials indicated that the death toll could rise as the search progresses, saying that while 15 people were rescued immediately after the incident, the number of confirmed deaths had continued to climb during the recovery effort. They described the situation as a very sad one for the affected community.
The authorities said the state government was planning an intervention at the crossing point where the accident happened, in a bid to prevent a recurrence, and pledged to take steps so that such a tragedy would not happen again.