ACCRA, Ghana 

At least 11 people died when a passenger boat capsized off the coast of southeastern Liberia, local media reports said Sunday.

Liberia’s Maritime Authority Commissioner Eugene Lenn Nagbe said the boat had left the capital Monrovia on Saturday morning and was on its way to the central port city of Buchanan when it sank.

Nagbe noted that the bodies of 11 people were found during search and rescue efforts and at least 15 people are still missing. He said search and rescue efforts are continuing.

He said the vessel was not authorized to carry passengers and had been put under “detention orders” because it was not seaworthy.

Boat disasters occur frequently in rivers during the rainy season in Liberia.