Docho Eshete and about 80 members of his congregation gathered Sunday morning at the southern end of Lake Abaya — close to a national park where enormous crocodiles have been reported to cover the shore.

Shortage

Normally, the animals are a tourist draw. But Lake Abaya has lately had a shortage of fish, and the crocodiles have become aggressive toward humans, who have little chance to spot them in the lake’s murky red waters.

“He baptized the first person and he passed on to another one,” a resident of nearby Arba Minch told the BBC. “All of a sudden, a crocodile jumped out of the lake and grabbed the pastor.”

Attack

While hardly an everyday occurrence, crocodile attacks are a known risk in Ethiopia — as in Florida or any region where they thrive.

When the Wabe Shebelle River in southeast Ethiopia flooded in 2006, Reuters reported, government boats came under attack, hindering relief and rescue efforts.