By Tim Binnall
In a bizarre story out of Zimbabwe, a prayer ritual held in a river took a tragic turn when three people wound up drowning under mysterious circumstances that some have attributed to mermaids. The very strange case reportedly unfolded last month in the village of Makasi when a purported prophet from a nearby town visited the community to tend to an ill child. As is custom, the individual first met with the head of the village, which is where things took a weird turn as he informed this man, Victor Tazvigwira, that a spirit had become attached to him after he had stumbled across some human bones. Hoping to help rectify the situation, the prophet proposed that they have a ritual in the Musogwezi River in order to cleanse him of the worrisome possession.
Agreeing that this was the best course of action, Tazvigwira enlisted his wife and children as well as a group of church members to attend the impromptu blessing in an approximately ten-foot-wide pool of the river which is a frequent spot for baptisms and is also a popular play area for kids. However, on this particular day, something was amiss with the location as the onlookers who joined Tazvigwira for the ritual seemingly became possessed when they arrived at the site and proceeded to speak in tongues before inexplicably running into the water. As this was occurring, a mysterious rumbling sound filled the air and an unseen force of some kind is said to have pushed the people under the water.
Managing to survive the ordeal, Tazvigwira recalled how "we could see each other as we struggled to escape from the bottom of the pool." After flailing about in an attempt to alert those on shore as to what was going on, he says that "after a while I mysteriously found myself thrown out of the pool and lying on the ground. I still don’t know how I came out." While several other individuals who were drawn into the water also escaped, three young people sadly wound up drowning in the odd incident. Unable to explain the strange circumstances surrounding the tragedy, their relatives and many residents of the village concluded that the unfortunate event was the work of mermaids and enlisted a 'spirit medium' to bless the area in the hopes of eradicating the supernatural creatures.