Published: 2013 September 13 17:06:01 (4650 Views)

AN 80-year-old woman from Kezi died on the spot after a marauding elephant trampled upon her while working on her fields on Tuesday morning.

It is alleged that the vicious elephant destroyed several households and fields before it pounced upon the deceased woman.

A village Mr Tinashe Mphala said that the elephant was believed to have come from the Tokwane area in Plumtree.

"In recent months cases of elephant killing people have been in the increase. This problem should be treated as an urgent matter because as it is our children are now absconding lessons for fears of being attacked," said Mr Mphala.

Another villager, a school teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity said there were two versions to the story. He said the other version states that the woman dead after a group of elephants trampled upon her.

"Other villagers said five elephants pounced on the woman while she was working on her field at about 8am. After the incident the elephants proceeded to St Joseph area where they destroyed numerous fields before disappearing into thin air," said the teacher on anonymity.

Matabeleland South police spokesperson assistant inspector Christopher Ngwenya yesterday confirmed the incident, saying they received a report of a Kezi woman who was killed by an elephant.


"The deceased Siphetheni Ngwenya was of Mazwi village under Chief Malaba Sunyetseni. "It is reported that Mrs Ngwenya left her homestead going to her fields at about 6am," he said.

Asst Insp Ngwenya said the first encounter with the elephant occurred when it charged at a villager who was also working in the nearby his field to the deceased.

"Trynos Mdlongwa managed to escape uninjured when the elephant charged at him before disappeared into the bush. A few minutes later Mdlongwa heard Mrs. Ngwenya screaming for help and suspected that the elephant might have attacked her," he said.

Asst Insp Ngwenya said Mdlongwa alerted other villagers who teamed up and went to investigate. "Upon arrival they found the lifeless body of Ndlovu lying on the ground and the elephant long gone. The matter was reported to police in Sunyetseni who attended the scene and ferried the body to Sunyetseni Hospital." He said the elephant was tracked and killed by a professional hunter Mr Daily Scout who was provided by Matopo rural district council resource manager.

- Newsbite

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