At least 15 people were killed after a passenger ferry capsized and sank in River Nile State in northern Sudan on Wednesday, February 11.
The unnamed vessel was transiting the stretch of the Nile River between the areas of Tayba Al-Khawad and Deim Al-Qarai within the state's Shendi district when the incident occurred on Wednesday evening (local time).
Of the 27 people who were on the boat at the time, 15 are confirmed dead while only six survivors have so far been recorded.
Local residents and government civil defence teams are still searching for the six remaining occupants.
Local medical group Sudan Doctors Network (SDN) said in a statement that the tragedy has revealed, "the fragility of river transport and the absence of basic safety requirements," while the, "complete absence of local authorities and civil defence rescue teams in the early hours of the incident...exacerbated the scale of the disaster."
SDN has also called on the Sudanese authorities to send specialised rescue teams and equipment and to take immediate measures to prevent the recurrence of such disasters resulting in death.