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Last Update: Wednesday, March 2, 2005. 3:41pm (AEDT)

Company expresses sympathy following hippo victim's death

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A tour company has expressed its sympathy to the family of a Melbourne woman who was killed by a hippopotamus on one of its tours in Kenya.

Vicky Bartlett's first trip to Kenya went horribly wrong on Monday night during a visit to a popular tourist spot in the Rift Valley.

The 50-year-old Kew woman is thought to have been approaching a waterhole with some other tourists when she was trampled by a hippo.

Some newspapers have reported she had seen a hippo the night before and went to look for one again without telling her guide.

Her husband Geoff Bartlett says he finds it hard to believe she would have wandered off.

The Sydney-based tour company which organised her trip, Kamuka Travel, has expressed its sympathy to her family. A spokesman says a police investigation is now under way.

Meanwhile, Australian diplomatic staff say it will be days before Kenyan police finish their investigation into Ms Barlett's death.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Bruce Billson, says consular staff have been assisting the family.

But Mr Billson says it is unclear whether she was alone, or with others, shortly before her death.

"In the evening we believe some of the tour group did head towards the lake area. And other than that the details are a little bit contradictory and sketchy and we are waiting for a complete report from the local authorities," he said.