An elderly fisherman from Gatshe-Gatshe fishing camp in Kariba was mauled by a hippopotamus which attacked a makeshift boat he was aboard and it capsized.

By the time of publishing, a search and rescue mission had only managed to retrieve the now deceased, 61-year-old Ngoni Chikwezvero's right thigh.

Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) acting provincial spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Effort Chapoto confirmed the incident, which occurred on February 1, 2025 on Lake Kariba near Tsetse Island at around 1700 hours.

"The now deceased, together with Tafadzwa Billiat (45), went fishing in Lake Kariba aboard a dinghy boat.

"The boat was then attacked by a hippopotamus and it capsized before it attacked the now deceased and he drowned," said Chapoto.

Billiat managed to swim to the shores and made a report to the police the following day at around 1540 hours.

"ZRP Kariba attended the scene and retrieved a right thigh floating in the lake," said Chapoto, adding the deceased's brother Freddy Chikwezvero of Nyamhunga positively identified the body part as that of his sibling.

The body part was conveyed to Kariba District Hospital mortuary for postmortem.

Investigations are in progress.

"This indeed is a sad incident where we continue to lose lives. Police continue to urge fishermen to exercise extra caution when getting in the waters and to use proper boats designed for such purposes," the ZRP spokesperson said.