Man trampled to death by elephant

Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
A VICTORIA Falls man died in the early hours of Saturday after being trampled by a stray bull elephant at a church.

The incident happened just after midnight at Zionist Church of Christ in Hlalani Kuhle section in Mkhosana Suburb, in yet another case of human-wildlife conflict in areas near game parks.

The church is located in the middle of a suburb and the jumbo cut across houses where it was said to have chased after people along the way.

Residents said the elephant had been terrorising people for some days and several reports were made to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) although no action had been taken until the fateful day.

On Friday evening, the elephant reportedly chased after a number of people who were walking through the suburb and an unidentified man and woman earlier allegedly sought refuge in the unfinished ZCC church building after it charged at them.

Obert Sigola, age not given, was reportedly walking home just after midnight when the elephant charged and killed him.

He ran to a house under construction in the church yard where he sought refuge as the elephant chased after him.

The jumbo destroyed three sides of the wall that was at window level and trampled Sigola leading to his death, before dragging his body around the church yard.

Neighbours said Sigola hid behind the wall for some time and later decided to leave thinking the elephant had left only to find that it was still waiting.

The body was found decapitated about 20 metres away while intestines were about 10 metres away from the scene of the attack.

When a news crew arrived at the scene scores of residents had gathered while the body had been taken away and the deceased’s relatives were scooping bloodied soil from the scene.

Gogo MaMkhwananzi, who stays at a house within the church yard, witnessed the attack and said she was traumatised.

“I was sleeping inside when I heard the noise and I couldn’t sleep afterwards. The elephant was chasing other people when it met him as he was walking home. He tried to hide here behind the walls and it destroyed the walls and killed him. All his belongings were found here and his phone kept ringing and had been buried under sand. It then dragged him across the yard,” she said.

A church elder at ZCC Mr Jivas Nhema said the elephant had frequented the area before.

“It used to come and one of the visits it gorged the water tank with its tusk and drank water,” he said.

Victoria Falls residents have appealed to ZimParks to be pro-active whenever the wildlife authority receives reports about problem animals from residents.

ZimParks spokesperson Mr Tinashe Farawo urged people to avoid walking at night in wildlife areas or disturbing the animals’ habitat.

“I can confirm that someone was killed by an elephant in Victoria Falls and the incident happened in the dead of the night,” said Mr Farawo.

He said ZimParks is carrying out continuous awareness campaigns to encourage people to co-exist with animals. — @ncubeleon