Brother Seizes Crocodile by Jaws, Saves 9-Year-Old Sister From Near-Fatal Bite —Namibia, Africa

A nine-year-old girl in Namibia was saved from the jaws of a crocodile by her brave brother, who wrestled the beast until it let her go.

The crocodile attacked the siblings as they were fetching water for their village of Ntara in Namibia's Kavango West region.

Wrestling with a Crocodile

Nine-year-old Regimiya Haikera was grabbed by the reptile, which bit into her inner thigh as well as the left side of her ribs, according to the local news outlet New Era.

Her brother, Johannes Ndara, who is 19 years old, leaped into action immediately.

Ndara informed New Era that his sister had been following him as they traveled downstream to fill their buckets; he had only heard her screams before turning around to find her being devoured by a crocodile.

The crocodile's jaws were then grabbed by Ndara as he dove under the water to fight it off and free his sister.

Ndara was left feeling helpless after that, so he just held her in his arms as they sobbed by the edge of the river.

Haikera was taken to the Bunya Health Center before being flown as quickly as possible to the Rundu Intermediate Hospital.

According to reports, her condition is now stable.

Crocodiles in Namibia

The biggest species of crocodiles in Africa, Nile crocodiles are almost exclusively found in Namibia.

Nile crocodiles can grow to be 14 feet long, with some outliers being found to be over 20 feet long, and they are to blame for hundreds of annual human deaths.

There are thought to be 11,000 crocodiles in Namibia alone.

Crocodile attacks are all too common in areas where the reptiles are found; according to some estimates, the animals claim the lives of about 1,000 people annually.

Avoiding or Handling Attacks

Approximately 200 people may perish each year in the jaws of a Nile crocodile.

Richard Aingura, the Directorate of Parks and Wildlife Management chief warden, said that people should keep company when near rivers because visibility is reduced as the water level rises, making it difficult to spot crocodiles.

This is what aided the child who was attacked; her older brother saved her, New Era reported.

Aingura claimed that they had dispatched a staff member to locate the crocodile to capture it and relocate it away from areas populated by people.

Aingura further stated that the team always tries to move or even get rid of crocodiles that have had incidents with humans to reduce the chances of it doing so again.

They are also guided by the policy and use all available means to limit any further peril that might be caused by wild animals to humans.

Once the crocodile gets a taste of human blood and there are no other sources of food, it will likely continue preying on humans.

Other precautions to take to prevent becoming a victim of a crocodile attack include never swimming or going near water in locations where crocodiles are known to exist, especially at night, and refraining from cooking or doing dishes near the water, Newsweek reported.