Child Killed And Woman Injured By Crocodile: Champassak

A two-year old was killed by a crocodile in the Mekong River in southern Champassak province last Thursday while her mother sustained injuries to her right eye, according to a recent Champa Mai report.

The newspaper reported that on May 8, Ms Chai, aged 47, from Pathoumphone district accompanied her children down to the Mekong River to take a bath.

Unknown to her, there was a crocodile nearby which struck out with its tail when startled by the woman and her child.

Its tail struck the young girl in the face, killing her and injuring her mother. It is believed the child died instantly while the mother was knocked unconscious and fell into the river.

Fortunately local people were able to rescue the mother and she was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

According to an interview with the media, Ms Chai recounted that she took her daughter and two sons down to the river to wash.

She recalls that she was using her right hand to scoop water from the river’s edge when something hard struck her in the face.

Ms Chai said she doesn’t recall exactly what happened after that and the next thing she remembers is waking up in hospital.

“I heard there are some crocodiles in the Mekong River near our community but my family is poor and we don’t have a well like other families do so I must bathe in the river,” she said.

Her husband, Mr Feuang recounted that he was packing charcoal into bags when his sons came running up to tell him that his wife and daughter had just been killed by the crocodile.

He said he dropped what he was doing and ran straight down to the river, where he saw his wife’s legs in the water and jumped in to rescue her.

“I wasn’t scared of the crocodile,” he said, “I was only worried about saving my wife. Luckily by that time it had gone.”

Mr Feuang said his wife’s face was covered in blood but she was still breathing. His daughter’s body was two metres from the river’s edge and she was already dead.

With the assistance of local village authorities he conveyed his wife to hospital. She remained unconscious throughout the night but awoke in the morning and has since made a full recovery.

Source: Vientiane Times