By TAONGA KUMWENDA –
A THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD girl of Mkushi in Central Province is nursing serious injuries in hospital after surviving a crocodile attack while washing plates in a stream.
Doris Phiri was attacked by the crocodile on Tuesday, but quick intervention from onlookers prevented the reptile from dragging her deeper into Mubalashi stream.
Mkushi District Commissioner Luka Mwamba, who confirmed the incident in an interview yesterday, said the girl, who is a pupil at Minkuku Primary School, was grabbed on the leg before the intervention from good samaritans.
“I visited the area where the incident happened. The area is dangerous, we are lucky that the girl is still alive despite sustaining serious injuries on her toes,” he said.
Mr Mwamba said officers from the Wildlife Department had been deployed to the affected areas to hunt for the reptiles that had been terrorising the villagers.
The population of crocodiles in the district has increased due to heavy rainfall that has flooded rivers and streams in the area.
“Incidents of people being attacked have increased and one of the solutions is to crop the crocodiles,” he said.
He urged the people in the affected communities to stay away from rivers and streams that had the reptiles.
And police in Kabwe have released a woman who was arrested for spreading false news that a bus driver had turned into a snake.
She was detained at Kasanda Police Station.
Central Province police chief Lombe Kamukoshi, who could not name the suspect, said the woman was released yesterday morning after admitting the charge of alarming the public.
The residents engaged in a showdown with police officers on Wednesday at Kasanda Police station after word went round that the officers were hiding a man who had turned into a reptile.