Three children are among the seventeen people still unaccounted for after the boat they were travelling in crashed in a river in central Malawi on Wednesday.
According to the police, the 22 people were travelling to a burial service in the Mchinji district when they crossed the Rusa River.
Five people were able to swim to land.
John Nkhoma, the local police chief, said the boat was too small to accommodate that many passengers.
On Thursday, additional rescuers are anticipated to begin a search expedition for the missing people.
Authorities in the area are currently encouraging locals to stay away from sailing in flooded rivers.
After a terrible tropical cyclone last month that claimed 511 lives and left another 533 unaccounted for, Malawi is now on the mend.
The highlight of Cyclone Freddy in Malawi
Nearly 490,100 people are displaced and sheltering in over 500 sites across flood-affected areas of Malawi, as communities begin to reckon with the damage wrought by the Tropical Cyclone Freddy weather system.
The death toll has risen to 476, with at least 349 people still missing, according to authorities on March 19.
The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund has released US$5.5 million for vital life-saving and life-sustaining assistance for flood-affected communities.
At least 135,000 people in Mulanje, Phalombe, and Chikwawa districts have been reached with fortified cereal.
Many healthcare facilities and staff have been affected by the crisis—including the Phalombe and Nkhulambe health centres in Phalombe district—and there are still communities that are unable to access health care due to roads being cut. Cholera and malaria remain primary concerns, and there is an urgent need to provide chlorine for water treatment to about 215,600 households and mosquito nets to people in displacement sites.
Although Chikwawa district is now accessible via the M1 from Blantyre, transport to southern parts of the district is constrained. There is also limited access to Phalombe and Mulanje districts due to severe flooding.
