One child has died, and 23 other people are missing after a hippopotamus collided with a boat carrying villagers, causing it to capsize.
The fateful event occurred on Monday, May 15, in the remote Nsanje District in southern Malawi, close to the Mozambique border. The boat was on a routine trip, transporting 37 individuals to their agricultural lands for regular upkeep of their crops.
The response to the tragedy was swift. Local police and the World Food Program staff, who were nearby, jointly conducted a rescue operation. Thirteen people were successfully saved from the waters, reported Dominic Mwandira, the Nsanje District Police Commissioner.
The region’s inhabitants are not unfamiliar with mishaps involving hippos. They have repeatedly voiced their concerns and demanded the animals’ relocation to prevent such tragedies.
Nsanje police spokesperson, Agnes Zalakoma, shared the heartbreaking discovery of a drowned one-year-old—the boat’s only child passenger—in the aftermath of the incident. She further affirmed that the search operation was in full swing to locate the missing individuals, who are feared to have perished in the accident.
The local populace has been pleading for the construction of a bridge over the Shire River to circumvent the necessity of boating. However, their appeals have yet to prompt any action, leaving the potential for such dangerous encounters unchecked.
The Shire River, occupied by hippos and crocodiles, presents a perilous journey for villagers dependent on often overcrowded and dilapidated boats and canoes. Despite frequent incidents of capsizing, a hippo-initiated incident is relatively unusual for this part of Malawi.
Hippos, following elephants, are the second-largest land animals and possess a fiercely territorial nature. Particularly protective are the females when it comes to their young, often attacking anything they deem threatening. Remarkably agile in water and on land despite their tremendous weight—males can weigh up to 9,000 pounds and females over 3,500 pounds—these formidable creatures contribute to an estimated 500 human deaths annually in Africa.
