A 60 year old man of Chiningi Village in Zambezi District of North-western Province is battling for his life in Chitokoloki Mission Hospital after he was attacked by a stray hippo.

Confirming the incident in an interview with ZANIS in Solwezi today, District Commissioner, Simeon Machayi, said the hippo was terrorising the villagers and in the process attacked the man identified as Ndombe Chipopa who suffered serious injuries.

“It was around 08:25 yesterday, I received a phone call from residents of Chiningi Village that there was a stray hippo terriosing them. And immediately I contacted the District Joint Operations Committee (DJOC) team and we rushed there and found the situation was tense as the hippo was chasing people from their homes and attacking them,” he said.

Mr Machayi said upon reaching the scene with members of the DJOC, they found the victim who suffered fractured legs and a hand had already been taken to Zambezi District hospital for medical attention.

“The hippo killed two of the victim’s dogs and attempted to break a house belonging to one of the community members,” he explained.

Mr Machayi said after the search, the hippo was discovered hiding in a nearby stream and community members became incensed and provoked it, adding that in the process it became violent.

He narrated that it was at this point that the DJOC team sought for authority and clearance from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks to gun down the hippo.

By press time the District Commissioner said the victim was referred to Chitokoloki Mission Hospital for further attention.