CNA file photo

Taipei, Aug. 13 (CNA) One Taiwanese tourist was killed and another injured by a hippopotamus at a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) confirmed Monday, following media reports that two visitors has been attacked while taking photos in the area.

MOFA spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said the travel agency that arranged the tour for the two Taiwanese will soon make public the details of the tragedy.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's representative office in South Africa, which is responsible for Kenya affairs, will send representatives to Kenya to deal with the matter, Lee said.

Lee did not disclose the identities of the two Taiwanese, but according to a statement by the Kenyan Wildlife Service, the man killed in the hippo attack was 66-year-old Chang Ming Chuang.

He was fatally bitten Saturday evening while he was taking photos of hippos near Lake Naivasha in the wildlife sanctuary, 90 kilometers northwest of the capital Nairobi, the service said.

According to a Kenyan newspaper The Star, Chang had moved too close to the animal, which suddenly turned on him and snapped at his chest.

Chang's companion, Wu Peng-te, 62, was also attacked, but he suffered only bruises and was treated at a local hospital and released, the report said.

Foreign media had identified the two victims as Chinese nationals but according to the Chinese Embassy in Kenya, which dispatched officials to scene, the two people were from Taiwan.

"It is the unshakable duty of the Chinese government to provide consular protection services to Taiwanese compatriots," a spokesman for the embassy said, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency. "The Chinese Embassy in Kenya will work closely with the Kenyan government to help evacuate the body of the victim, treat the wounded and handle the aftermath."

(By Joseph Yeh)
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