A peaceful summer camping trip suddenly turned into a scene from a horror film as a Girl Scout troop from Huntsville, Texas, scrambled through the water and made a risky escape from an alligator.
The troop was swimming in Lake Raven at Huntsville State Park on Saturday while they were on a camping trip, KPRC 2 reported.
The girls were there to camp, explore and learn how to fish with their scout leaders.
Video footage captured the moment that the girls started to dash out of the water when an estimated 14-foot-long alligator swam over to the troop.
The video showed the girls panicked and screaming as they swam for their lives.
“I was thinking, this is the day I die,” 11-year-old Ava Miller told KPRC 2. “It was moving faster than us or about the same.”
One scout, Erin White, was unaware of the alligator despite the screams and jumped off the dock into the water where the huge gator was. Troop leader Nichole Glenn immediately got in between the gator and the scout and helped her to safety.
“There was no doubt in my mind that that alligator was not going to try and eat somebody,” Ms Glenn said to KPRC 2. “I always say that I love them [the Girl Scouts] to death. I always say I would do anything for them. Now, I definitely know I would do anything for them.”
“I was close enough to get hurt. And I didn’t even know it was there. So I should probably focus on my surroundings more,” Ms White said.
Horrific moment captured on camera as girls scramble for their lives out of the lake— (KRPC)
After all the scouts and leaders were safe, it took them a few hours to calm down from the ordeal.
“Some of us were freaking out a little bit because we just realised that an alligator was about to attack us,” Ms Miller said.
The swimming area was closed for the rest of the day by park police officers, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD).
The TPWD gave a statement to KPRC 2 and said that they have removed several “nuisance” alligators from the park and are looking into this particular alligator after this incident.
“There is current signage in place in English and Spanish to assist with educating our visitors of the alligators in the area,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also spoke about the buoy lines they have in place in the swimming area. “One [bouy line] outlines the entire area within the lake and only swimming is allowed in this area. The second buoy line is an indicator of the shallow area and the deeper area. There is no net in the area and there never has been in all the years the area has been open to the public.”
