Pastor killed by crocodile while baptizing believers in Ethiopia lake

 Pixabay

The BBC reports that a pastor has been killed by a crocodile while baptizing people in a lake in southern Ethiopia. 

According to the news service, Pastor Docho Eshete was in the middle of conducting a mass baptism in Lake Abaya when tragedy struck. 

"He baptised the first person and he passed on to another one. All of a sudden, a crocodile jumped out of the lake and grabbed the pastor," local resident Ketema Kairo told the BBC.

The pastor suffered bites to his legs, back and hands.  Fishermen managed to use their nets to stop the crocodile from dragging his body into the lake but the pastor died as a result of his injuries.

According to USA Today, policeman Eiwnetu Kanko said: "They only managed to get his dead body.  They were unable to save him."

Lake Abaya is situated in the Arba Minch area around 300 miles south of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The Daily Telegraph said crocodiles in Lake Abaya had a reputation for being aggressive to human beings as a result of overfishing that has affected their normal food supply.  

Last month, Zimbabwe resident Zanele Ndlovu, 25, nearly died when a crocodile attacked her and ripped off her arm just five days before she was due to walk down the aisle with her British fiancé, Jamie Fox, 27. Despite losing her arm in the attack, the couple went ahead with their wedding as planned.

Reflecting on her terrifying brush with death, Ndlovu told the BBC that it would be an adjustment but she was remaining positive.

"I am more positive now than I've always been. It kind of changed my life, in the sense of I almost died," she said. 

She also said: "Life is unpredictable. You know when they say when you make plans, God laughs? That makes so much more sense to me now."

News
Church leaders condemn antisemitic ambulance attack
Church leaders condemn antisemitic ambulance attack

Christian leaders have been united in their condemnation of a firebomb attack on four ambulances operated by a Jewish charity. 

Pakistan temporarily halts plan to evict Christians from settlement
Pakistan temporarily halts plan to evict Christians from settlement

Faced with poverty and discrimination, many Christians have nowhere to go.

Where to enjoy Christian heritage on the King's new coastal path
Where to enjoy Christian heritage on the King's new coastal path

Here are five remarkable Christian stops worth visiting on the new King Charles III England Coast Path, each one rooted not only in its own history but also in the wider coastal landscape around it.

Rowan Williams ponders Anglican Communion's survival
Rowan Williams ponders Anglican Communion's survival

In two decades, the issues affecting the Anglican Communion have not changed but the divisions have only intensified.