ABIDJAN, Sept 7: Eleven people, including children and a baby, are missing after a hippopotamus overturned their boat on the Sassandra River in southwestern Ivory Coast, officials confirmed Saturday.

Minister for National Cohesion and Solidarity Myss Belmonde Dogo said in a statement on Facebook that the victims included women, young girls, and an infant. She explained that the narrow canoe-like boat was motoring near the town of Buyo on Friday when it was capsized by the hippo.

According to the minister, three passengers survived and were rescued, while search operations are ongoing to locate the missing.

A 2022 study by researchers in the Ivory Coast revealed that hippopotamuses are the animal most frequently associated with fatal or injurious encounters with humans in the country. Authorities estimate that about 500 hippos live across southern Ivory Coast, particularly along the Sassandra and Bandama rivers.

Boat accidents are not uncommon in the region, where handmade longboats are commonly used to travel between riverside communities and are often overcrowded with passengers and goods. In April, a separate tragedy saw a dozen children and teenagers drown when their boat capsized in a lagoon near Abidjan.

Globally, hippo-related deaths are estimated at around 500 annually, though figures vary. In June 2024, a New Jersey woman was killed by a hippo during a safari in Zambia, prompting her husband to file a lawsuit against the U.S. tour operator. The previous year in Malawi, seven people, including a one-year-old child, died after a hippo struck and capsized their canoe. Similarly, in 2018, a Chinese tourist and a local fisherman were killed in separate hippo attacks on the same day in Kenya.

Hippos, the world’s second-largest land mammals after elephants, can measure up to 11 feet in length and 5 feet in height. The International Fund for Animal Welfare notes that adult males can weigh around 7,000 pounds.