A thirteen-year-old boy who turned to fishing to raise his school fees was attacked and killed by a crocodile in Save River, southeastern Zimbabwe. The boy, Owen Chianga and his friend Liberty Ruzivo, 15, were attacked by two crocodiles on Thursday around lunchtime near Birchenough Bridge.
Ruzivo was left without a heel after his father managed to wrestle him out of the jaws of one crocodile. It was too late for Chianga who had already been dragged away, the report said.
The two went fishing all in an effort to help Owen supplement income at home, given that his physically challenged father was failing to send him to school.
Chianga’s remains were recovered the next day in a nearby tunnel.
The two boys had been lured further into the river than was normal because they’d seen some dead fish floating, according to Chauruva Ruzivo, the father of Chianga’s friend.
“It was around 12:30pm on Thursday when they were attacked by two huge crocodiles. I heard my son calling out for help. I rushed to the scene and saw him wrestling with one of the crocodiles. By the time I arrived, his friend had been overpowered and dragged into the dam. I held my son by his upper body and pulled him from the jaws of the crocodile,” said Chauruva.
“The crocodile mauled his heel. They had gone there for fishing, but some people had applied a chemical into the water to kill the fish. This is why the boys decided to get so close to the water body to pick the dead fish,” he added.
It was not clear what the chemical was.
