At least 26 people, including 21 women and five children, have drowned when their canoe capsized in northwest Nigeria's Sokoto state, a local official said Wednesday. 

The boat carrying an unspecified number of passengers overturned on River Shagari late on Tuesday, according to Aliyu Dantani, the administrative head of Shagari district. 

"The bodies of 26 passengers have been recovered by local divers. They include 21 women and five children," Dantani said. 

"We don't have a definite number of passengers in the canoe which is why the search is still ongoing with the hope of finding more bodies," he said.

The cause of the accident was not clear.

Boat mishaps are common on Nigerian waterways mostly due to overcrowding and lack of maintenance, particularly in the annual rainy season. 

Late last month 13 people fleeing a raid on their village by criminal gangs drowned when their canoe capsized in central Niger state, according to emergency services.