Boy loses hands in hyena attack

Apr 29, 2014

A 16-year-old boy from Rwamuhuku village in Kiruhura district has lost his hands in an attack by a hyena.

A 16-year-old boy from Rwamuhuku village in Kiruhura district has lost his hands in an attack by a hyena.

The beast reportedly sneaked into the hut, where Enock Rwagemu was sleeping at about 2:00am on Sunday.

According to Jossy Muhangi,  the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) public relations manager, Rwagemu was wounded as he fought the beast. He suspects the hyena strayed from the nearby Lake Mburo National Park.

“Rwagemu was sleeping in a hut that had weak locks when the hyena, suspected to have been attracted by the smell
of meat attacked. When he attempted to fight, it maimed his palm and bit off two fingers on his other hand,” Muhangi
said.

“Rwagemu’s hands were amputated around the wrist to stop the excessive bleeding. His right hand was hurt more
than the left. It was amputated slightly below the wrist and it is now shorter than the left hand,” he added.

Joselyne Keikazi, the mother who stays in a semi-permanent house next to the victim’s, said her son was attacked at around 2:00 am.

“I heard him making an alarm asking for help. I called his uncle, Herbert Mujuni who went to rescue him. The hyena had pinned him down. We thought it was a lion so we feared attacking it. But when we made an alarm, the hyena dropped Rwagemu’s hands and ran off,” Keikazi narrated.

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