Jaw-dropping moment 2 metre long crocodile attacks Australian woman and her friend in Zimbabwe
CCTV footage has captured the terrifying moment an Australian woman and her friend were attacked by a crocodile in a swimming pool.
The Chilling footage shows the beast creep up on the unsuspecting duo between the sun loungers at the villa in Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, before it pounced.
Brendan Fowler, 27, told The Sun how “instinct kicked in” when he leapt out to escape the snapping brute, leaving his bikini-clad friend Amilia Roberts, 22, to fend for herself.
He explained: “The croc pretty much flew over my shoulder and I saw it before it got into the pool.
“From my angle it looked as if it was going to come at my face, so I turned and got out the way.
Aussie attacked by crocodile
“It all happened so quickly and I guess it was just instinct that set in.
“I don’t think it is possible to think under those conditions.”
The crocodile turned on Roberts, who is travelling Africa on a gap year from studying in Australia, and bit her twice.
Just as she reached the other side of the pool, seemingly makes it to safety, the animal suddenly became more aggressive.
In a split second it raced towards her, thrashing about in the water and latching onto her arm.
Miraculously she escaped with cuts to her elbow, shoulder and back.
Friend Sebastian Smyth, seen in the video bounding in to help fend off the croc, said: “Amilia’s a tough Aussie bird and was in great form the rest of the trip.
“She didn’t even shed a tear.”
Smyth, who is still recovering from a broken neck and arm after a recent car accident, told how he came running after hearing screams from the pool while he was fixing some drinks.
Speaking about his brave intervention, Smyth, 28, said: “I just did what came naturally to me, and I’m sure any man would have done the same thing.
“Crocs are known to be put off if spooked by an attack.
“Brendan did the right thing jumping out as crocs have the advantage in water.”
The CCTV video of the attack, posted to YouTube, has notched up more than 900,000 views.
Lake Kariba, the world’s largest man-made lake, is a thriving breeding ground for crocodiles.
It lies 1,300km upstream from the Indian Ocean, along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Fowler said the lack of rainfall in the area where the attack happened caused an area of the lake nearby to dry up, forcing crocs to look elsewhere for freshwater and food.
Last year we reported how panic spread in Zimbabwe as residents claim they had been brutally assaulted by mermaids.
Originally published as Aussie attacked by croc in Zimbabwe