An 11-year-old child died after being attacked by a crocodile when he went to fetch water from the Vanduzi River in Manica province, central Mozambique, a police source told Lusa today.
The attack took place on Friday at around 5:30 pm (3:30 pm in Lisbon) in the Vanduzi area, said Mateus Mindo, spokesman for the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) in Manique, noting that this is the first case reported this year.
According to local press reports, the child was in the company of his sister, also a minor, who tried to save him, but to no avail.
“I tried to tear her hand off, but the crocodile tried to attack me too, and I went home to tell my family about it,” said the victim’s sister, as quoted by the private STV channel.
Wildlife incidents are common in rural areas of Mozambique, and river banks pose an increased risk.
The crocodile is one of the animals causing the most deaths each year in Mozambique, causing 76 deaths in 2020, according to the National Administration of Nature Reserves (ANAC) data on reported incidents – many of them unreported.
According to the organization, crocodiles killed more people in February, January and December, months of the rainy season, which in Mozambique runs from October to March.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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