Reports of a “rampaging beast” in the Dowa district, about 100 km from the capital Lilongwe, has sent at least 4,000 people fleeing four villages to seek refuge at a community hall at the district headquarters. Parks and Wildlife Officer Leonard Sefu said his department believed the mysterious beast could be a rabid hyena but said it was strange for a hyena to terrorise whole villages without being cornered. Dr Matius Joshua, the Dowa District Health Officer said that two old women and a three-year-old baby died when the beast crushed their skulls and ate their intestines and private parts. He said his department was examining the maimed people to establish what the animal could be. All efforts to shoot and kill the animal have so far failed. Dr Joshua said the 16 victims admitted into hospital following the latest attacks sustained various appalling injuries – some of them lost both legs and hands while two have lost both ears and eyes to the beast. One woman lost her mouth and nose.

Source: BBC News