A baby died and 23 others are missing after their boat collided with a hippo and sank in a river in southern Malawi, local police announced Tuesday.
The boat was carrying 37 people across the Shire River when it sank on Monday, Nsanje district police spokeswoman Agnes Zalakoma told France-Presse.
Rescuers found the lifeless body of a one-year-old baby, after 13 people were rescued by residents on the banks of the river, while another 23 remained missing, the spokesperson added.
The Shire River is the largest in Malawi, near the Mozambique border, and boating accidents are frequent in this country, where the lack of regular river transport leads many people to cross lakes and rivers in boats and canoes, to times in bad shape. .
Last month, at least five people were killed when an overcrowded boat capsized in the central Mchinji district.
Source: TSF
