At least 13 people died, and another seven went missing as a result of attacks by wild animals in 2024 in Tete province, central Mozambique, an official source said on Thursday.
Speaking to Lusa, the commander of the Tete Coastal, Lake and River Police, Cachimo Carimo, explained that the deaths were the result of crocodile attacks, mainly in the district of Cahora Bassa, in the centre-south of the province.
“We have also registered seven missing people as a result of animal attacks, whose bodies have not yet been found,” he said, adding that the province has seen a reduction of around 15 cases compared to 2023.
In October, Lusa reported that the number of deaths due to attacks by wild animals had almost tripled in one year, reaching 159 victims in 2023, according to a report by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
In the 2023 Basic Environmental Indicators report, INE details that the number of deaths was 58 in the previous year and 56 in 2021, but 97 in 2020 and 42 in 2019.
More than half of the fatalities from these attacks last year were concentrated in Tete province (70), followed by Zambézia (31), according to the INE data, which also states that only Sofala and Nampula provinces had no fatalities.
Tete province alone has recorded 137 deaths since 2019, according to INE’s historical data.
Lusa
