The six together with four others were from their routine fishing expedition in the morning when they suddenly met the hippo.

The area Chief Daniel Tiang’ said the four managed to get hold of the overturned boat as their colleagues drowned and they were rescued by others who were in another boat during the incident.

‘The boat had ten fishermen on board but luckily four of them escaped death narrowly when they managed to hang on the floating boat before they were rescued by another boat,’ said Mr Tiang’.

He said that so far only one body has been retrieved from the water and the search is still on. However, the Bondo deputy police boss Paul Kiarie confirmed the incident saying the search for the five bodies is on.

The area councillor Aggrey Dimo said there have been several cases of human-wildlife conflict but the government has not shown any commitment in controlling the conflict.

He appealed to the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) to control the rogue hippos to prevent the loss of more lives.

Mr. Tiang’ revealed that so far 30 people have lost their lives in a span of three months along the shores of the Lake Victoria especially Bondo district, Nyanza Province due to the attacks by hippos making the fishermen to live in fear now.

Meanwhile, more than 70 fishermen who were trapped in the lake for three days after their boats were noosed by water hyacinth have been rescued.

The fishermen were rescued with the help of a chopper from the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS), which arrived on the scene on the fourth day of being trapped.

Nyanza Provincial Commissioner, Francis Mutie said the chopper airlifted 12 fishermen who were in the three boats that were far from the shore.

However, 62 others managed to get to the shore on their own way as they struggled to push the water hyacinth out of the way.

The victims were rushed to the nearby hospital were rushed to the nearby hospital where they were treated and later discharged.

The fishermen who come from Seko, Rakwaro and Rambira beaches went fishing last week in the evening in about 24 boats but got stuck after water hyacinth blocked the lake.

The boats got stuck at different parts of the lake after the noxious weed came in a storm and clogged the entire area where they were fishing.

This made the efforts by the fishermen to get out of the water fruitless. The PC has called upon the fishermen to be very vigilant especially now that the weed is moving in a stormy manner to prevent cases of death adding that the government is working on ways to reduce the situation in the lake.