At least one person has died and more than 20 people have been reported missing after a canoe was hit by a hippopotamus in the Mtayamoyo River as it passed through the southern district of Nsanje, authorities have confirmed.
The fatal victim is a child, thirteen people have been rescued and another 23 have been reported missing, said Nsanje Police spokeswoman Agnes Zalakoma, according to the Times 360 Malawi news portal.
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"Chiromo Police detectives and a rescue team are in the area looking for the drowned," he added, so it is feared that the death toll of the event may increase in the coming hours.
For her part, Gladys Ganda, parliamentarian for Nsanje, has detailed in a message on her account on the social network Facebook that the canoe has been hit by a hippopotamus, which has caused it to capsize when it was carrying more than 30 people on board.
"People were crossing the river to the Mozambican side, where they carry out agricultural activities," he said. "Prayers are necessary for the missing to be rescued," Ganda added after the event, the third of its kind in the last three years.
Ganda herself told Voice of America that "Mtayamoyo means 'death trap.'" "You cross the river at your own risk, as it is infested with crocodiles and hippos and the canoes that operate in the area are not motorized," he said.
He also stressed that this event could have been avoided with the construction of a bridge over the river. "The Mtayamoyo Bridge is a must, it's not a luxury. It is a necessity, we must reduce the number of deaths that take place in this area, "he riveted.
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