A mother has described the horrifying moment she heard 'loud screams' after a three-year-old boy was thrown into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo in Cambridgeshire.
Incident at Johnsons at Old Hurst Zoo
The unnamed woman, in her 20s, was sitting on a bench with her two-year-old daughter at Johnsons at Old Hurst zoo in Huntingdon on Thursday when the incident unfolded. The boy was reportedly attacked by a crocodile before being pulled out by staff. He remains in critical condition in hospital.
A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder but has been bailed and was 'unfit for interview', according to Cambridgeshire Police. It has been reported that he has learning disabilities and was on a trip to the zoo with carers.
Mother's Account
The mother, who was sitting outside the enclosure, said she had a 'sixth sense' earlier in the day telling her 'not to go into the crocodile house'. She said: 'We were sitting on a bench in the park between the bear and the crocodile enclosure. I was on the phone with my dad when it was all happening as my daughter was calling the capybaras happy-baras. We sat there and heard a loud scream. Never in a million years did I think someone was in with the crocodiles. The whole zoo went really quiet and it felt really eerie.'
Shortly afterwards, she and other visitors were asked to leave an open area next to the enclosure because 'there had been an incident'. Within ten minutes of the scream, she heard sirens and saw two police vans and four police cars arrive at the zoo.
Emergency Response
She added: 'We then saw the air ambulance come over within about 10 minutes. We thought there had been a road accident.' The mother described a 'white sheet' being held up between the zoo cafe and the farm shop, which she believes was covering the injured boy. 'They held up a white sheet in between the farm shop and the cafe so no one could see what was happening. All of the police cars were there too. I think that was out of respect for the family. It felt very eerie and weirdly quiet.'
Fear for Her Own Child
The mother expressed her fear leaving the zoo with a child of a similar age. 'My daughter was oblivious to everything because she is so little but it is scary because, what went through my head was, if I hadn't of stopped to make that call it could have been her. The little boy was only three and my daughter is two, it could have been her.'
