Overview

• The wooden piragua carrying 14 people capsized early Friday near Buyo, leaving 11 unaccounted for.
• Minister Myss Belmonde Dogo said the missing include women, girls and a baby in a statement posted on Facebook.
• Local authorities, emergency teams and residents are conducting ongoing river searches for the missing.
• The small dugout canoes used in rural transport often lack safety systems, increasing vulnerability to sudden water disturbances.
• Ivorian research in 2022 found hippos most frequently involved in deadly or injurious encounters with people, with about 500 animals mainly in southern rivers.