More bodies recovered in Malawi boat tragedy
Rescue teams in Malawi have recovered six more bodies of people who went missing after their boat was hit by a hippo and capsised on the Shire River in the southern Nsanje region on Monday.
A police spokesperson in Nsanje area, Agnes Zalakoma, said the bodies were recovered on Wednesday from different sites along the river, state-owned MBC TV reported
“The search is still in progress,” Ms Zalakoma said. Following the accident, 14 people were rescued and about 20 others were reported missing. A body of an infant, who was among the passengers, was recovered earlier.
The boat was packed with 37 villagers who were crossing the river to work in their fields on the Mozambican side.
A one-year-old boy has died and 23 people are missing after a hippo hit their boat, capsising it in Malawi’s biggest river, police say.
Rescue teams are searching for survivors, but hopes of finding anyone alive are fading as the accident occurred on Monday.
The boat was packed with villagers who were crossing the Shire River to work in their fields, as they normally do.
For reasons that are still unclear, a hippo attacked their boat this time.
A total of 14 people managed to swim to safety or were rescued by other villagers who dived into the river to help. But they failed to rescue the only child in the boat.
His body was recovered by the police maritime unit when it arrived to carry out rescue and search operations.
The accident occurred in the remote Nsanje district in southern Malawi, near the border with Mozambique. —BBC
