Her husband,
Oliver Nyoni, hearing her desperate screams from 300 metres away, immediately
ran to her aid as the reptile, believed to have been lying in wait, lunged and
dragged her into the water by her right thigh.
Nyoni is
receiving treatment at Hwange Colliery Hospital but will be transferred to
Mpilo Central Hospital for specialist care. Nyoni’s selfless act of bravery
saved his wife of 12 years without a thought for his safety.
“I got into the
water, going straight towards the crocodile as it kept dragging my wife to the
deeper end of the river. When I got there, I got hold of her while punching the
reptile on its nose with my fists. After about five punches, it let go, opening
its mouth, and that is when my wife broke free,” said Nyoni.
He then bravely
pulled his wife approximately 30 metres away from the river’s edge, while
shouting for assistance from other villagers. To his utter dismay, the
crocodile, having tasted blood, emerged from the water and charged towards
them, intent on completing its deadly attack.
“At that
moment, I was in a state which I still don’t understand. I used all and any
means to scare off the crocodile, including throwing sand at it, and thank God
Almighty, it retreated,” said Nyoni.
Ward 10
Councillor, Lethukuthula Ngwenya, said that the incident has left the villagers
utterly shocked, while also lamenting the lack of boreholes, which leaves them
constantly exposed to the danger of such attacks.
“The village
has no borehole; their only water source is the Zambezi River, and this exposes
them to the dangers of crocodile attacks. I am just glad that we didn’t lose
her, but our people are not safe at all. If only we could have boreholes,” said
Ngwenya.
She visited the
victim at Hwange Colliery Hospital yesterday, where the decision was made that
she requires transfer to Bulawayo for specialist medical care.
“The transfer
costs were about US$1 000, which the family did not have, but we managed to
talk to the Hwange Rural District Council to avail their ambulance, so tomorrow
(today), she will be transferred to Bulawayo,” said Ngwenya.
Zimparks
spokesperson, Tinashe Farawo, confirmed the unfortunate attack, highlighting it
as one of many crocodile incidents across the country. He urged villagers to
erect barriers around their water collection points to improve early detection
of any crocodiles that might have crossed over.
“We can confirm
that there was an incident where a woman was attacked by a crocodile and was
rushed to hospital.
What is sad is
that this is the third incident in that same area within a short period. We
encourage communities that use domestic water from the river, which is infested
with crocodiles, to make sure that they barricade the area where they do their
laundry and other chores so that it will be clear to see if there is a
crocodile. This is a really unfortunate incident; we wish the victim well and a
quick recovery,” said Farawo.
According to
Zimparks, crocodiles have tragically killed nine people and injured a further
twelve across the nation since the start of the year. During the same period,
at least 44 cattle and 60 goats were also lost in the 49 reported instances of
human-crocodile conflict.
Nineteen of
these cases occurred in the Central region, encompassing the Kwekwe River,
Sebakwe River, and Munyati River areas. The Mid-Zambezi region, which includes
Lake Kariba, the Angwa River, and the Hunyani River, recorded 14 cases. A
further 16 cases were collectively reported in the Matopo, Harare, North-West
Matabeleland, and South-East Lowveld regions. Herald
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