Deceased/Not Found Ivory Coast - Hippo capsizes boat, leaving 11 missing, including children and a baby - Sept 5, 2025

[Clearsky]

Hippo Capsizes Boat, Leaving 11 Missing — Including Children and a Baby

A search has been launched to find 11 people who went missing after a hippo overturned their boat in the Ivory Coast on Friday, Sept. 5, according to the nation’s minister of Cohesion and Solidarity, Myss Belmonde Dogo.

people.com

A hippo overturned the boat carrying 14 passengers on the Sassandra River in Buyo in the Ivory Coast on the morning of Friday, Sept. 5, the nation’s Minister of Cohesion and Solidarity, Myss Belmonde Dogo, said in a statement shared on Facebook.

 

[KBlackRabbit]

I wonder what kind of boat and what part of the river. Was the flow fast through there? Were there rapids or other swiftwater obstacles? Was the boat overcrowded? Did the boat turn over on the passengers trapping them underwater?

 

[Bekind89]

I wonder what kind of boat and what part of the river. Was the flow fast through there? Were there rapids or other swiftwater obstacles? Was the boat overcrowded? Did the boat turn over on the passengers trapping them underwater?

This just reminded me of the late, wonderful Steve Irwin. I watched his every show and there were only two times I actually saw him afraid. One was around cotton mouth snakes and the other was hippopotamuses.

 

[iamshadow21]

This just reminded me of the late, wonderful Steve Irwin. I watched his every show and there were only two times I actually saw him afraid. One was around cotton mouth snakes and the other was hippopotamuses.

And rightly so. Hippos are mean and super aggressive. They don't even attack humans to eat them. They're herbivores. They just chew people and spit them out.

MOO

 

[steff13]

And rightly so. Hippos are mean and super aggressive. They don't even attack humans to eat them. They're herbivores. They just chew people and spit them out.

MOO

Came here to say this. Hippos are scary.

 

[GraceG]

Hippos notwithstanding (and seriously, they are more dangerous than lions), the bigest concern for me is few or any or them likely knew how to swim. With water infested with hippos and crocodiles in some areas, swimming is not a common skill to learn.

 

[CalliopeMuse]

CBS News has an informative article on this event, as well as hippo-related issues:

The West African nation's minister for national cohesion and solidarity, Myss Belmonde Dogo, said on her Facebook page that the missing included women, little girls and an infant.

The boat in question was a kind of handmade and very long canoe. An adult hippo can weigh as much as 7,000 pounds. Sadly, a collision between the two was not going to end in favor of the boat and its passengers. And as GraceG noted up-thread, the victims likely couldn't swim, especially the little girls and the baby. [moo]