Image by Paul Maritz/CC-BY-SA : Pod of Hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius) in Luangwa Valley, Zambia
Tragedy struck in southern Malawi as a hippopotamus charged into a canoe on a river, causing it to capsize. The incident resulted in the death of a one-year-old child, while 23 individuals are currently missing and presumed dead, as per official reports.
On Tuesday, authorities from the southern district of Nsanje in a southern African country reported that a watercraft transporting 37 individuals across the Shire River encountered an accident on Monday morning, according to local law enforcement.
Malawi’s Minister of Water and Sanitation, Gladys Ganda, left, and government official Abide Mia, right, await rescue party developments on Shire River, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Austin Kachipeya/AP
Nsanje District Police Commissioner Dominic Mwandira said that Malawian law enforcement officials successfully rescued 13 individuals with the assistance of World Food Programme personnel who were present in the vicinity and provided boats for the rescue mission.
Agnes Zalakoma, the spokesperson for the Nsanje police department stated that the rescue team successfully recovered the deceased body of a one-year-old who had drowned during the collision.
According to Zalakoma, the ongoing search operation to locate the missing persons is currently underway. He further stated that the canoe began to tilt and eventually overturned following a collision with a hippopotamus.
The President of Malawi, Lazarus Chakwera, dispatched the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Abida Mia, to the location. According to her, the local populace has expressed concerns regarding the frequent issues caused by hippos in the vicinity, and have urged the authorities to consider relocating a few of these animals.
In Malawi, boat accidents are a frequent occurrence due to the absence of regular water transport, which compels many individuals to traverse lakes and rivers in vessels that are often precarious. The lack of regulations further exacerbates the situation.
In the central district of Mchinji in Malawi, an overcrowded boat sank last month, resulting in the loss of at least five lives.