Hippo killed man found in estuary
The suspected poacher is thought to have drowned after being bitten on the head by a hippo.
THE body of the gill netter who disappeared last Friday evening on The Narrows, about six kilometres upstream of the St Lucia estuary mouth, was found on Monday afternoon.
Amnotse Matsimba, a confirmed Mozambican citizen who had been living in Dukuduku near St Lucia, was busy with illegal gill netting activities when a hippo overturned his rudimentary boat at about 6pm on Friday.
A search by the SAP Water Wing on Saturday revealed the damaged boat, but Matsimba’s body was found only on Monday afternoon after two-and-a-half days of intensive searching.
While the post mortem results have not yet been released, Matsimba is thought to have drowned after being bitten on the head by a hippo.
In other news, a 12-year-old boy went missing near KwaMsane on Sunday.
Zamakahle Mthethwa and his friends were playing soccer on the banks of the Mfolozi River when the ball landed in the river.
Mthethwa went into the river to retrieve the ball and disappeared. His body was found on Monday afternoon following an intensive search by the SAP Water Wing.
Further drownings were reported to have occurred last week, one at Sodwana Bay on Tuesday, 7 October, and another at eNseleni last Saturday.
Details on these could not be obtained.
