A Kariba woman is lucky to be alive after being attacked by an elephant while fetching water from an outside tap early this morning.

Miss Angela Kamberembere was filling up containers with water at Number 1158, Nyamhunga 2 Township, near Nyanhewe Primary School when she suddenly saw the elephant.

The elephant attempted to grab her with the trunk and she fell to the ground.

“The moment the elephant charged to attack me further, its right leg got stuck in a dish.

“This must have distracted it allowing me to recover before I started crawling away after gaining composure,” she said.

Residents in the area have blamed perennial water problems which have resulted in water coming out of taps between midnight and 4pm.

“Kariba Municipality is letting residents down. Instead of sleeping, we are busy filling up containers with water, exposing us to dangers with wild animals.

“We heard Angela screaming and we rushed to make noise which must have distracted the elephant. She is lucky to be alive,” said Mrs Albertina Botai.

Mrs Svinurai Vhareni said the elephant now frequents the area where it drinks water stored in dishes and other containers.

Mrs Vhareni said their rooms were too small to store water indoors.

The residents said water problems started in 2018 when Kariba Municipality connected additional institutional water users.

— Herald