Tanzanian man survives, seriously wounded after two-hour fight with crocodile

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | XINHUA | A 23-year-old man was seriously wounded by a crocodile after a two-hour fight in Lake Tanganyika in western Tanzania’s Nkasi district of Rukwa region, an official said on Saturday.

Said Mtanda, Nkasi district commissioner, said the crocodile attacked the man identified as Thomas Kasagama, a resident of Kabwe village, as he was taking a bath in the crocodile-infested lake.

“The man cheated death after fighting for two hours with the crocodile and later was rescued by passersby,” said the official, adding that the incident occurred on Friday at around 5 p.m. local time.

Speaking from his Nkomolo hospital bed, Kasagama told a local newspaper that the crocodile attacked him shortly after he had started taking a bath in the lake.

“Realizing I was in danger, I decided to swim into deep waters where the crocodile would have no place to support itself. I started to fight so as to discharge myself from the crocodile,” he said.

He said he screamed at the top of his voice alerting people onshore to rescue him.

“By the time I was rescued the crocodile had already done damage to my left leg and my left ribs,” said Kasagama.

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XINHUA