Crocodiles kill 17 in Mozambique

Crocodiles have killed 17 people in central Mozambique in the past two weeks, state television there reported today.

The crocodiles attacked as people fetched water, washed clothes or fished in the Chinde River.

“Something must be done to prevent the deaths in the river,” Antonio Portugal, whose uncle was killed by crocodiles, told state TV.

Authorities in the north-western province of Tete, where crocodiles are also blamed for many deaths, have launched a campaign to collect crocodile eggs along the Zambezi river to control the reptiles’ population.