Hippo Attacks, Drags Child To Death Before Horrified Onlookers, Incident Caught On Camera

In a horrific incident, a massive hippopotamus attacked and dragged a child to his death in Kenya. The incident reportedly took place in the Lake Victoria region.

The child, whose age was not revealed, was playing close to the shore in Mbita when suddenly he was grabbed by the hippo. People who were washing clothes nearby watched the child being dragged into the murky water.

A video shared online shows the child submerging in the water as locals cried out and pelted rocks at the animal in an attempt to save him. By the time the animal let go of the young boy he had already died. The body of the boy was later found with serious injuries.

The video was filmed on Sept. 16 but it was shared online recently, according to U.K.'s the Sun.

Kenya Wildlife Service reportedly said that attacks by hippos and crocodiles have increased sharply around Lake Naivasha and the Lake Victoria regions in recent months.

"For the last four months, the hippos have been terrorising residents and making it impossible for fishermen to run their errands during the evening," a person living close to the lake told Kenyans.co.ke.

William Onditi, chairman of Suba South Beach Management Unit Network, told the publication: "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."

In May, a man was mauled to death by a hippo on the shores of Lake Naivasha.

In January last year, a fisherman escaped a horrific hippo attack near Lake Naivasha in Kenya. The man, identified as Mathew Wanjiuku, was ambushed by the giant animal and was bitten. Onlookers banged on a metal sheet to scare the mammal and eventually it moved off.