Children among 11 missing after hippo capsizes boat in Côte d'Ivoire

Eleven people including children were missing after a hippopotamus capsized their boat in southwestern Côte d'Ivoire, a government official said Saturday.

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 a baby.

She said the hippopotamus tipped the narrow, canoe-like boat over on Friday, as it was motoring along the Sassandra River near the town of Buyo.

Three people survived the incident and were rescued, and "a search is ongoing in the hope of finding the missing victims", she said.