NAIROBI: A hippopotamus attacked and killed a tourist from Taiwan who was taking photographs on the shore of Lake Naivasha.
The man was pronounced dead on arrival at the Naivasha District Hospital, while another tourist survived the attack on Saturday evening, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service said on Sunday.
“We are tracking the hippo,” the service said on Twitter on Sunday.
The agency identified the dead man as Chang Ming Chuang, 66, and the survivor as Wu Peng Te, 62, and said they were from China but Taiwan’s foreign ministry said the two were from the self-ruled island.
Kenya has no formal ties with Taiwan, recognizing only China and its claim to speak for and represent the island internationally.
The Taiwan ministry said it had sent someone from its representative office in South Africa, as Taiwan has no representation in Kenya.
China’s official Xinhua news agency cited the Chinese embassy in Nairobi as saying it had sent diplomats to the scene.
“It is the unshakable duty of the Chinese government to provide consular protection services to Taiwanese compatriots,” Xinhua quoted an embassy spokesman as saying.
Kenya’s the Star newspaper quoted the head of a boat owners’ association in Navaisha as saying higher-than-normal water levels were causing hippos to wander from the lake on to nearby farms and hotel properties searching for pasture.
Naivasha is a city on the lake 90 km northwest of the capital, Nairobi.
After a severe drought last year, Kenya had several months of heavy rain this year that caused serious flooding, including around Lake Naivasha.
Tourism is one of the country’s main sources of foreign exchange and nearly 1.5 million tourists visited Kenya last year, according to the tourism ministry.
Hippo kills Taiwan tourist visiting Kenyan lake
Hippo kills Taiwan tourist visiting Kenyan lake
- The deaths brought to six the number people who have been killed by hippos around Lake Naivasha so far this year
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
