11 missing after hippopotamus causes boat to capsize in Ivory Coast

Eleven people, which include small children and an infant, have gone missing after a hippopotamus struck a passenger boat in southwestern Ivory Coast on Friday, September 5.

Officials said the narrow-hulled boat was travelling along the Sassandra River in Bas-Sassandra District when a nearby hippopotamus suddenly tipped it over on Friday morning (local time).

Only three of the people who were on the boat have so far been rescued, and an operation to attempt to locate the missing occupants is still ongoing, as confirmed in a social media statement by Myss Belmonde Dogo, the country's National Cohesion, Solidarity and Anti-Poverty Minister.

Ivory Coast is home to an estimated 500 hippopotamuses, with majority of the animals found in rivers in the southern part of the country, according to CBS News.

A study conducted by local university researchers in 2022 revealed that hippopotamuses had often figured in interactions resulting in death or injury among people.

Boat capsizings caused by hippopotamus interactions have also been recorded in other African countries such as Zimbabwe and Malawi.

One such incident in the latter country occurred in 2023, when a boat carrying 37 people was tipped over by one of the animals. That incident left at least seven people dead while 17 other individuals have not yet been found.