IN a rare show of bravado, an 11-year-old girl from Hwange
Town plunged into a stream and jumped on top of a crocodile before gouging its
eyes to rescue a nine-year-old friend who had been gripped by the reptile.
The incident happened last week when Latoya Muwani was
attacked by a crocodile while swimming with friends in a stream in Sinderela
Village.
However, Rebecca Munkombwe, a Grade Six pupil at a local
school, displayed some heroic exploitations when just after coming out of the
stream, she was alerted by screams of help coming from the water.
After seeing that her friend Latoya was struggling to stay
on the water surface and was being pulled away, her instinct told her that she
had to help her.
She quickly plunged into the water where she found out that
Latoya was being pulled away by the big reptible which had gripped her on the hand and leg.
She mounted on top of the reptile and started gouging its
eyes until it loosened its grip on Latoya. Rebecca then helped her out of the
stream.
Sunday News traced the young heroine and she narrated how
despite fighting the crocodile and rescuing her nine-year-old friend, she did
not sustain any injuries.
“We had just left the water when we heard Latoya who was
left alone swimming near the neck deep zone screaming that something was biting
her hand. Since I was the eldest among the other seven children, I felt the
urge to save her. So, I jumped into the water and swam to where she was
struggling to float. She was screaming in pain that something was biting and
pulling her under,” said Rebecca.
She said once she got close to Latoya she noticed that a
crocodile had its jaws locked on her thigh.
“I jumped on top of the crocodile and started beating it
with my bare hands before using my fingers to poke its eyes until it released
her. Once she was free, I swam with her to the banks where the other children
pulled her out of the water. The crocodile fortunately did not attack us after
it let off Latoya,” said Rebecca.
Sunday News also visited St Patrick’s Hospital where Latoya
was admitted to but the administrator stopped the publication from seeing her.
A nurse at the hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity
said Latoya was lucky to have escaped with “mild injuries” as the crocodile did
not fracture her bones.
Latoya’s father, Mr Fortune Muwani could not hide his
gratitude describing his daughter’s survival as miraculous.
“I was at work when I learnt that my daughter had been
attacked by a crocodile while swimming. For a moment there I thought of the
worst before I learnt that she had survived after being saved by Rebecca. How
she managed to do that I don’t know but am grateful to God. Latoya is
recovering well here at St Patrick’s and we expect her to be discharged soon as
her injuries are not serious,” said Mr Muwani.
Ward 10 councillor Steve Chisose confirmed the attack
arguing that the incidents were becoming worrisome.
“Yes, there was another crocodile attack involving a girl
who luckily survived after a friend came to her rescue just on time. I spoke to
the father who told me that she was receiving treatment at St Patrick’s. What’s
also contributing to these incidents is that we have challenges with accessing
water which forces women and children to use unprotected sources such as these
crocodile-infested streams. The women are usually accompanied by their children
who get naughty and end up swimming in these water bodies. I appeal to ZimParks
to remove these reptiles before they cause serious harm or death,” he said.
Police in Hwange and Zimparks spokesman Mr Tinashe Farawo
said they were yet to receive the report of the attack.
The incident brings to three the number of people, mostly
children who have been attacked in the stream which is a tributary of Deka
River.
The stream, which has a continuous flow, gets most of its
water from the Zimbabwe Power Company effluent and goes through various
treatment stages before passing through the area enroute to Deka River.
Sometime this year, a 21-year-old man was attacked and
killed by a crocodile while fishing at a disused pit that had filled with water
in Madumabisa. Sunday News
0 comments:
Post a Comment