John Muyamba
RUNDU – The Namibian Police in the Kavango East region have warned riverine communities to be aware of hippos and crocodiles while making use of the river after an attack by a hippo, where a 16-year-old Angolan boy was badly wounded while fishing on Monday.
The boy sustained two big bite wounds on his left leg. “Our community along the river must be alert on the current danger in that area this time around as the aggressions of this animals this time around is harmful when carrying out fishing activities this time can have serious consequences. The sad incident happened on Monday afternoon at Mbambi village in Mukwe constituency, Kavango River in Angola,” said the police in a report shared by the Kavango East crime investigations coordinator, Bonifatius Kanyetu.
“The victim, Mbambo Moses a 16-year-old Angolan male, was drag netting to catch fish in the Kavango River on the Angolan side when their canoe was hit by a hippo. He sustained serious bite injuries while his two minor mates escaped the attack unharmed,” Kanyetu noted.
Kanyetu told New Era the victim was rushed to Nyangana hospital in Ndonga Linena constituency for medical attention. “The matter is handed over to the Angolan police and authorities who will further handle it as it happened in their jurisdiction. But the victim is still admitted in Namibia, receiving treatment,’’ he said.
In a different incident on the Kavango River, a decomposed body of a Namibian woman was discovered floating in the river on Saturday morning at Gove village in Mashare constituency, Kavango East. According to the Namibian Police, the victim was a 53-year-old woman and was identified as Kangura Rosa Kaharu. It is suspected she might have drowned a few days before her body was discovered on Saturday after it was spotted floating by people on the Angolan side of the river, who alerted the Namibian police to attend to it.
“It was further reported by relatives of the deceased the deceased got missing on Tuesday last week during night time from their homestead at Shambyu village just on the East of Gove village, where she was discovered,’’ Kanyetu noted.
“Because she’s allegedly mentally unstable, family members don’t know what really happened to her,’’ he said. According to Kanyetu, the body was in a bad state (decomposed), and they believed the victim drowned.
The body was transported to the Rundu state mortuary by the police and it is now pending post-mortem. “No foul play was so far detected. The next of kin have been informed and police investigations continue,’’ he noted.