A 52-year-old man of Mambwe District in the Eastern Province has died after being attacked by a crocodile.

Eastern Province Police Commanding Officer Robertson Mweemba said the now deceased, Dean Nyirenda, was attacked by a crocodile as he was fleeing from elephants.

“Brief facts are that the now deceased, together with his young brother and another individual, were coming from fishing and were on their way to the campsite when they encountered a herd of elephants, prompting them to run in different directions.

Mr Mweemba said the now deceased ran to a stream near the Luangwa River, where he was attacked by a crocodile, which bit him on his right thigh.

“The deceased managed to rescue himself from the jaws of the predator by hitting it with a stick that he had and managed to drag himself out of the stream,” he said.

Mr Mweemba said that the other two individuals who were at a distance managed to get the victim to safety.

The police chief, however, said the deceased bled profusely, adding that he later died due to excessive loss of blood.

He said that officers from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife visited the scene and inspected the body of the deceased.

“When the officers from DNPW visited the scene and inspected the body, they discovered that the deceased had deep teeth marks on the right thigh, which had led to excessive bleeding,” he said.

Mr Mweemba said the body of the deceased was deposited into the Mambwe District Hospital Mortuary awaiting burial, as there was no suspected foul play.