Elephants on the loose in Salima: Seriously injure one man
One person has been seriously injured when marauding elephants attacked him in his vegetable garden in Malawi’s Central Region Lakeshore district of Salima.
The 22-year-old Francis Soko from Simpha Village, Traditional Authority Kalonga in the district, met his fate when about four elephants escaped from Thuma Forest in the evening hours over the weekend.
He is currently battling for his life at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe.
The jumbos are reported to have been spotted at Katelela Trading Centre in the morning hours before they surged towards the Old Salima Town later on.
It has been reported that about eight elephants are on the loose and government game rangers are on the scene to send the animals back to the forest. “One of the elephants, run after him when he tried to escape but it was too little too late.
He fell to the ground and one of the elephants trampled on his right leg and eventually pierced its ivory on his back. The impact caused a huge wound on his back and the intestines were exposed through the stomach,” said one of the eyewitnesses in an interview with Nyasa Times.
Meanwhile, Thuma Forest Reserve director Reen Clifford has attributed the elephants’ escape from the forest to encroachment of people from the nearby villages of Chagunda and others.
Salima district commissioner Charles Kalemba said elephants feed on bamboos and there must be an event whereby they
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
