Africa : Zambia: Boy survives elephant attack in Livingstone
on 2009/11/10 8:31:08
A 17-year-old boy yesterday miraculously survived an attack by an elephant in Livingstone’s Kasiya area.

Narrating the ordeal from his hospital bed at the Livingstone General Hospital, Nixon Lubindo said he was cycling near Suns of Thunder when he came into contact with the animal.

“I was cycling near Suns of Thunder orphanage when I saw the elephant and stopped, but the animal charged towards me and I turned around and started to cycle back when I noticed that it had started to chase me,” he said.
Lubindo, who has just written his grade seven examinations, said he then decided to drop his bicycle and to run when the elephat caught him.

“I decided to abandon the bicycle when I realised that it was on me, so I decided to drop the bicycle and started to run in zig-zag formation. When I realised that the elephant was not giving up on me I decided to hide behind a tree but the animal knocked down the trees. I tried to do this several times but it still knocked down the trees until it caught me with its trunk and started to hit me against the ground and some trees,” Lubindo said.
He said after he lost his consciousness, the animal went away and when he woke up, he noticed that his t-shirt was soaked in his own vomit.

“The doctors have just taken an x-ray as they were suspecting that I could have some internal injuries but they have said that I only have some damaged tissues in my chest. Otherwise it is a miracle that I’m alive,” said Lubindo.
And Kasiya UPND ward councillor Cacius Mauma who rushed to the hospital to visit Lubindo said there was an urgent need for ZAWA to set up pilot camps in his area.

“The rain season has just started and the elephants are now patronising the villages searching for food especially mangoes. ZAWA needs to set up pilot camps before lives are lost. This issue has been a pending one for a long time now and lives have been lost before,” said Mauma.