Lion 'kills 10-year-old girl just metres from her home in Zimbabwe'

'They were guided by a trail of bloodstains until they stumbled on Mitchell’s lifeless body'

Reports of fatal lion attacks on humans are not uncommon in remote areas of rural Zimbabwe (REUTERS)

A 10-year-old girl has reportedly been killed by a lion just metres from her Zimbabwe home.

Mitchell Mucheni had gone behind her house in the southeastern Chiredzi district to relieve herself, but when she did not return her aunt went to look for her, according to The Chronicle state newspaper.

Mawonei Muchacha saw the lion dragging her niece away and later recovered her body after desperately searching for her with the help of a neighbour, the paper said.

Police spokesperson Kudakwashe Dehwa told The Chronicle: "They were guided by a trail of bloodstains until they stumbled on Mitchell’s lifeless body, some 300 metres from the homestead."

Reports of fatal lion attacks on humans are not uncommon in remote areas of rural Zimbabwe.

In 2013, two people were mauled to death by rogue lions in Kariba, a popular resort town in northern Zimbabwe.

In 2015, a 14-year-old boy was also killed – and eaten – by a lion as he guarded his family’s crops in the north-eastern village of Mariga.