Hippo Capsize Boat in Ivory Coast; 11 missing people, including children and baby

Eleven people, including children and a baby, were missing after a hippopotamus overturned their boat in the southwest of the ivory coast, said a government official on Saturday.

The Minister of National Cohesion and Solidarity of the Nation of Western Africa, Myss Belmonde Dogo, said on his Facebook page that the missing ones included women, girls and a baby.

She said the hippo bowed the narrow boat and similar to the canoe on Friday, since it was directed along the Sassandra River near the city of Buyo.

Three people survived the incident and were rescued, and “a search is in progress in the hope of finding the missing victims,” ​​he said.

A 2022 study conducted by researchers from the University of the Costa de Ivory discovered that hypopotamos were the species most mentioned in interactions with humans that caused deaths or injuries in the country.

It is estimated that there are 500 hippos on the Ivory coast, distributed among the various rivers in the south of the country, mainly the water courses of Sassandra and Bandama.

Boat accidents are quite common in the country, since the long handmade boats are used to navigate among the communities next to the water, and are often overload with passengers and goods.

In April, a dozen children and adolescents drowned when the boat was overturned in a lagoon near the main city of Abidjan.

The estimates of how many people are killed by hippos every year vary, with lower figures that begin in around 500.

In June 2024, a woman in New Jersey was killed in a hippo attack during a safari in Zambia. Women’s husband Then he sued The American company that organized the trip.

In 2023, seven people were killed, including a 1 year oldin the southern Nation of Malawi, when a hippo loaded in a canoe and overturned it in a river.

In 2018, a Chinese tourist and a local fisherman were Killed in Hippo attacks The same day in Kenya.

Hippo are the second largest mammals in the world After the elephants, which measures approximately 11 feet long and approximately 5 feet high, according to International Fund for Animal Welfare. The average male hypopotam weighs around 7,000 pounds.

• Africa
• Hippo