ZIMBABWE – A 10-year-old girl has reportedly been attacked and killed by a lion outside her house in the south east of the country.

The tragedy occurred in the wildlife-rich Chiredzi district.

Mitchell Mucheni had stepped outside her family’s hut to relieve herself in the middle of the night.

When she didn’t return, her aunt when to find her, and saw her body being dragged away by a lion.

The state-run Chronicle reports that her aunt used a torch to follow a trail of blood to find the girl’s body.

There have been occasional reports of fatal lion attacks on humans in the country over the past few years.

Chiredzi, where this latest tragedy occurred, is close to Gonarezhou National Park.