More than ten people have died after a pirogue capsized on the Sassandra River in Buyo, southwestern Côte d’Ivoire.
Authorities say the boat, carrying 14 passengers, overturned early Monday after being struck by a hippopotamus.
Eleven people, including women, children, and an infant, are missing, while only three passengers survived.
Rescue operations are ongoing as search teams continue to look for victims.
The tragedy adds to a series of deadly accidents on Ivorian waterways.
In April 2025, twelve children drowned after a canoe sank in Dabou, and in 2021, seven Burkinabé girls lost their lives in a similar incident in Greikro.
Earlier in 2018, twelve others died when a motorized pirogue carrying more than twenty passengers sank on the same river.
