At least 22 pupils drowned on Wednesday when a boat carrying more than 40 people sank while crossing the Nile in northern Sudan, state news agency SUNA said.

SUNA said civil defence forces were searching the waters for the bodies of the missing children. A female hospital employee also drowned.

It further said the boat's engine failed in a high current while it was cross the river to a school in Kabna. The woman was identified as a hospital employee in the village.