A 19-year-old herd boy was yesterday attacked and killed by a crocodile at an old mine pit in Hwange as he tried to cool off from the heat brought on by high temperatures.
Most parts of the country have been experiencing episodes of extreme temperatures.
Sources privy to the incident told CITE that the deceased (name withheld) from Tinde in Binga and employed as a herd boy was trying to cool off near the pit when tragedy struck.
“The boy was herding his employer’s cattle near the pit when he decided to bath at the pool’s bank because of the heat. This was when the crocodile attacked him pulling his right hand by its jaws into the pool,” said one villager.
It is understood that it took more than 5 hours to recover his body.
“Efforts to rescue him were fruitless as the crocodile refused to resurface or let him go. This happened in the morning at around 10 am before his body was found by villagers who had formed a search party at around 4 pm.”
While Matabeleland North provincial acting police spokesperson, Sergeant Namatira Mashona could not be reached for comment, the Ward 11 councillor, Cosmas Nyoni confirmed the incident adding that there was an increase in such attacks in the area.
“Yes, I can confirm that a 19-year-old boy was attacked and killed by a crocodile yesterday. The place called Carriers is a mined out place where people go and fish. There have been similar incidents for example last year a boy was attacked and killed by a crocodile in the same pool. We have tried to engage residents over the issue of going to the pool, “said Clr Nyoni.
According to residents the pits were left open by Hwange Colliery Company after mining out the coal years back and ended up filling up with water before turning into pools.
Some of these pools have become home to crocodiles that take residence there as river dry up during the summer season.
Locals have been known to frequent these pools to fish as part of efforts to supplement their diet.
what is the company doing about these incidents of underground fires caused by dumped coal, what measures are they taking to keep the environment safe