Hippo drags little boy to death as horrified crowds try to save him

The child suffered serious injuries after being attacked in Kenya.

A little boy was tragically dragged to his death by a hippopotamus as horrified crowds desperately tried to save him.

Haunting footage shows the helpless child be pulled into Lake Victoria after being grabbed by the animal in Mbita, Kenya on September 16.

He had reportedly been playing by the shore as people washed clothes when the hippo attacked.

Witnesses can be heard screaming and crying in terror after rushing to the edge of the water.

Many tried to throw rocks and sticks to deter the animal and save the boy’s life – but this tactic only drove the hippo further into the water.

The child was eventually released but was already dead after suffering serious injuries. His body was recovered by locals.

It comes after a fisherman was mauled to death on the shores of Lake Naivasha, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, in May. Three people were also attacked in June.

One local told kenyans.co.k: ‘For the last four months, the hippos have been terrorizing residents and making it impossible for fishermen to run their errands during the evening.’

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has since been asked to station response teams nearby to areas with large populations of hippos, as attacks are on the rise along beaches in Rachuonyo North, Suba and Mbita.

Suba South Beach Management Unit Network chairman William Onditi said: ‘There should be officers on standby to tame the animals whenever they move out of the water.

‘The officers can use their guns to scare them back to the water because civilians don’t have the ability to do so because we don’t have weapons.’

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