A leopard attacked 13 people, including children, in the Ethiopian town of Alaba Kulito, 200 kilometres (124 miles) south of Addis Ababa, before being shot dead by police after a lengthy chase.
The animal was first reported breaking into a residential house early in the morning. The police were then dispatched to control the situation.
“It was jumping on the roof of the houses. This created chaos in the society. The panicked leopard then started attacking people,” Taju Negash, Deputy Police Commander, told the BBC.
“Among the victims were two children, and women. The rest are youth,” he adds.
Police say they have no idea where the leopard came from. The victims are being treated in a hospital. Such occurrences are not uncommon. In Jimma, western Ethiopia, a leopard killed a husband and wife on their way home last September and injured two other militias.
Experts warn that animal attacks are on the rise, owing in part to people constructing homes in new areas.
