Death toll up to 7 after hippo capsized canoe in Malawi; 17 missing
Malawi's Minister of Water and Sanitation, Gladys Ganda left, waits with government official Abide Mia, right, for news updates from the rescue party on the banks of Shire River, Tuesday, May 16,2023. Rescuers have been searching for twenty-three missing persons in the southern tip of Malawi's Nsanje District, where a canoe carrying 37 people capsized Monday morning when a hippopotamus hit it while trying to cross into Mozambique. Credit: AP/Austin Kachipeya
BLANTYRE, Malawi — The death toll has risen to seven after a hippopotamus charged into and capsized a canoe on a river in the southern African nation of Malawi.
Six bodies were recovered floating in the river on Wednesday, police said, following the incident on Monday. A 1-year-old child was confirmed dead on Tuesday. The six new bodies recovered included a teenage boy and a teenage girl, police said.
Police said 17 people are still missing and the search for them continues, although they are also feared dead.
Authorities said the canoe was carrying 37 people in the Nsanje District in southern Malawi.
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