Court orders Sun Africa Hotels to pay Sh31.9 million to the family of a Chinese tourist killed by a hippo

Family of Chinese tourist killed by hippo in Naivasha awarded Sh31 million

Mumbi Mutuko

January 31, 2019 1:38 PM

Hefty compensation

Family Of Hippopotamuses On Lake Naivasha Kenya

The family of a Chinese tourist has been awarded Ksh31.9 million after their kin was killed by a hippo in 2013.

On Thursday, Sun Africa Hotels were directed by the High Court to compensate the family of the Chinese woman who was at the Lake Naivasha Country Club.

High Court judge Jacqueline Kamau Pulse Live Kenya

Justice Jacqueline Kamau stated that the evidence presented in court by the hotel claiming that Luo Yi was taking pictures of the hippo when she was attacked was just hearsay since none of the witnesses saw her.

Negligence

He noted that the hippos had encroached onto the hotel premises and were a threat to the guests.

“Ms Luo moved too close to the calf hippo and suddenly an adult female hippo, presumably the calf’s mother, charged at and attacked her “ostensibly to protect her calf, and thereby inflicted fatal injuries to the deceased,” the defence team argued.

On it's part, the Kenya Wildlife Service said the fatal attack was occasioned by the joint negligence of the deceased and the hotel.

Ms Luo was blamed by KWS for wandering into an area she ought not to have, taking photos of the calf and playing with it.

Luo Jiyao, husband to Luo Li in a Nairobi court Pulse Live Kenya

The agency also blames the hotel for failing to erect an electric fence to prevent wild animals from accessing its premises, encroaching on a riparian land where hippopotamus graze.

Ms Luo's husband told the court that his wife was the sole bread winner of the family.

Mumbi Mutuko