Always sad to hear things like this.
Africa and its animals are very often underestimated by tourists.Each and every animal here is potentially dangerous.We have heard many storys about man eating lion and leopard but the hippo is number one on the list when it comes to kills by a mammal.The mosquito is of course the no 1 killer of all and the bushbuck is the antelope that killed the most humans.

A hippo's jaws is also the set that can open the widest of all animals and is an unbelievable 150 degrees so the chances of a hippo biting you miss is very very slim and by this you can also see why some humans are bitten in half.
A hippo also has the the biggest teeth of all animals and the world record is something like 30 odd inches.If anybody has RW record listing with them they can perhaps correct me with the exact length.They are extremely dangerous if stumbled on or in close encounters.They are actually faster under water than on dry land.On land they run about 45km/h and underwater they go up to 50km/h (i dont know who was taking time under water but that is what the experts say.)They often graze up to 10km away from the waterhole and this is mainly at night.During daytime they'll always be in the water or just on the edges.
Just a littlebit of info for the interested.Please correct me if I made any mistakes.This was written quickly of the top of my head.