Eleven people, including children and a baby, are missing after a hippopotamus capsized a boat in the Ivory Coast, according to a translated statement from Myss Belonde Dogo, the country’s Minister of Cohesion and Solidarity, shared on Facebook.
The incident took place on the Sassandra River in Buyo on Friday (September 5) and involved 14 passengers, with three confirmed survivors, according to Dogo.
“It is with deep sorrow that we learned that 11 people, including women, girls and an infant, have gone missing following a boat capsized caused by a hippo,” Dogo wrote. “The scene unfolded early yesterday morning on the #Sassandra River in #Buyo.
“Of the 14 occupants on the boat, at the moment 03 survivors. Search continues in hopes of finding missing victims.
“Distressed by this tragedy that upsets us all, the Gouvernement de Côte d’Ivoire joins the pain of the parents and relatives of the deceased and expresses its #solidarity to the survivors.”
The ages of the missing passengers haven’t been publicly confirmed as search and rescue missions are ongoing. An estimated 500 hippos are reported to reside in the Ivory Coast, predominantly inhabiting its southern rivers, according to CBS News.
Hippos are reported to be the most common cause of animal attacks resulting in deaths or injuries in the Ivory Coast, according to a 2022 study conducted by the country’s researchers, which estimates around 500 deaths annually.
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