Child dead, 23 people missing after hippopotamus capsizes canoe on river in Malawi

By GREGORY GONDWE
Associated Press

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Authorities in southern Malawi say a 1-year-old child died and 23 people are missing and feared dead after a hippopotamus charged into and capsized a canoe. The long wooden canoe was carrying 37 people across the Shire River on their way to neighboring Mozambique when it was hit by the hippo on Monday. The district’s police commissioner says officers saved 13 people with help from World Food Program personnel who were working in the area and provided boats for the rescue operation. Malawi’s minister of water and sanitation says locals told her hippos often caused problems in the area and they want authorities to relocate some of the animals.