Harare – A crocodile tore a five-year-old away from her mother in a terrifying attack in Harare’s dormitory town of Chitungwiza, the privately-owned Standard reported on Sunday.

Ruvarashe Matingwina was reportedly holding onto her mother’s hand as they crossed the Nyatsime River on their way home on Friday when the crocodile grabbed the child’s leg.

Crocodiles are rarely seen in Harare or in Chitungwiza, which is about 20km away from the capital.

The attack happened in shallow water “where you would never expect there could be crocodiles”, one witness told the Standard. The mother is reported to have screamed for help but her child’s body was only found in reeds in Chitungwiza on Saturday morning.

Police have confirmed the tragedy.

Last month the private Newsday reported that state rangers were trying to trap a crocodile sighted in Harare’s Waterfalls suburb.

Crocodile attacks are reported more frequently in south-eastern Zimbabwe and in Lake Kariba and the Zambezi River in the north of the country. In March this year a three-year-old girl was taken by a crocodile while bathing in the Zambezi.