CNN —Rescuers have recovered six more bodies from a river in southern Malawi days after a boat carrying about 37 people was capsized by a hippo on Monday. Police spokesperson Agnes Zalakoma said the bodies were recovered Wednesday from the Shire River in Malawi’s Nsanje district, bringing the death toll to seven. A lawmaker for the Nsanje district, Gladys Ganda, said the villagers were crossing the Shire River to get to their farms at the Malawian border with Mozambique when the boat they were traveling in was struck by the hippo. Police spokeswoman Zalakoma earlier told CNN that accidents are common on the river. In January, a canoe carrying 15 people capsized in the Shire River after hitting a tree trunk, leaving one person dead and six others missing and feared dead, Zalakoma told CNN.