Exotic family holiday turns into a tragic death scene at Lake Kariba

An exotic family holiday soon turned into a tragic death scene when a young man was viciously mauled by a pack of lions.

Chris Demaine, from Perth in Western Australia, was celebrating his dad's 60th birthday aboard a houseboat on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe last month when the boat's deckhand was attacked.

The 25-year-old paramedic student told The West Australian that he was visiting the area where his father grew up alongside both his parents and a number of family friends and described the scenery as 'amazing' with 'wildlife everywhere'.

But on only their first night at the lake, as the deckhand attempted to moor the boat to a tree, three hiding lionesses pounced on him.

Horrified, the houseboat passengers stood helplessly as the man was mauled to death in front of them, according to The West Australian.

Their only choice was to wait and watch the lions and the screaming deckhand until park rangers arrived at the scene, scaring them away with gunshots.

Mr Demaine, a former soldier who spent time in both Afghanistan and East Timor, turned out to be the only one in his company with medical experience.

He soon found himself stepping off the boat in an attempt to assist the man.

'There was a bit of nerves involved but out of the people on the boat I thought if anyone's going to do this it's going to be me,' Mr Demaine told The West Australian.

'When I got close to him and scanned his body, that's when my training kicked in and I focused on doing the best I could in the situation'.

After quickly assessing the deckhand, who had died of his serious injuries, Mr Demaine and the boat passengers were forced to bring the body on board and wait until the morning for police to arrive.

His friends and family feared that the hungry lionesses would reappear and leave no remains if the body was left behind.