By ANDREW PHIRI-
A THIRTY-SIX-YEAR- OLD Livingstone man has sustained bruises on his head and chest after a stray elephant attacked him in the tourist capital on Sunday.
Dumisani Lukhele, a resident of Simoonga Ward, was attacked by the jumbo on Sunday as he was going to church.
Lukhele told Times from his bed at Livingstone General Hospital yesterday that he was grateful to God for saving his life during the elephant attack.
“I cannot wait to go and testify how I survived the trampling.
After the elephant attacked me on Sunday as I was going to church, I fell down but it still trampled me until I prayed to God for help,” he said.
Mr Lukhele said miraculously, the beast abandoned its mission and walked away leaving him injured.
The Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) managed to identify and kill the stray elephant.
Livingstone General Hospital medical superintendent Namani Monze said the victim was stable and out of danger.
Dr Monze said it was surprising even for medical personnel at the hospital to understand how Mr Lukhele survived the attack.
In a separate interview yesterday, ZAWA Livingstone senior warden, Lusizi Mwale said the authority killed the animal.
“After killing the elephant, we discovered that it had two gun shots on its body and it attacked the victim because it was wounded by poachers.
“The elephant was female and not very big and we distributed its meat to members of the surrounding communities and crocodiles,” Ms Mwale said.
Meanwhile, a Livingstone resident working for CICO constructing company Obvious Mukoya, who survived when the earth curved in and trapped him together with two of his colleagues who died, has been discharged from the Livingstone General Hospital.
The accident happened when the trio were laying new water pipes.
Dr Monze confirmed that Mr Mukoya was discharged at the weekend after he was treated.
The two who died in the accident were Chishimba Mukuka aged 30 and Morris Namambo aged 28 years and have since been buried.
The Chinese firm was contracted by the Southern Water and Sewerage Company (SWASCO) to dig trenches for the laying of pipes from the Zambezi River main source.