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ABC News
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National

Death toll rises to seven after hippo capsizes boat in Malawi, Africa

Malawi's Water Minister Abida Mia and local MP Gladys Ganda wait on the Shire River bank for rescue updates. (AP Photo: Austin Kachipeya)

Seven people are dead and a further 17 are still missing after a hippopotamus capsized a boat in Malawi, Africa. 

Police said six more bodies were found floating in the river on Wednesday, including a teenage boy and girl. 

A one-year-old child had been confirmed dead earlier on Tuesday. 

The boat was carrying 37 people across the Shire River when it was hit by a hippo in the Nsanje district on Monday.

Police said the search for the remaining 17 people who are missing continues, although they are also feared dead.

Authorities rescued 13 people earlier in the week with the help of World Food Programme personnel, who were working in the area and provided boats for the rescue operation.

Locals want authorities to relocate some hippos because of the problems they are causing. (Reuters: Goran Tomasevic)

Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera sent the country's minister of water and sanitation, Abida Mia, to the scene.

Ms Mia said locals told her hippos often caused problems in the area and they wanted authorities to relocate some of the animals.

AP

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