An eight-year-old boy was savaged to death after a neighbour’s pit bull jumped over the fence and clamped its jaws around his throat.

Third-grade student Olebogeng Mosime was playing outside by himself when the neighbour’s dog broke out of its chains and leapt the fence.

The canine then reportedly charged at the Roseview Primary pupil, and locked its jaw into his neck and chest, choking him to death.

The horrific incident occurred in the Vista Park area of Bloemfontein, South Africa, at around 2pm on Saturday, 12th November.

Emergency workers who arrived on the scene found Olebogeng lying dead by the garage door of the family home.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Thabo Covane confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday, saying: “Police and paramedics were summoned to the scene, and the boy was declared dead on the scene.”

The pit bull was reportedly still wandering in the yard covered in blood when police arrived on the scene.

One of the emergency response officers drew his weapon and shot the pit bull, but it did not die immediately.

The canine was later put down by officers from the South African Police Service (SAPS), who fired multiple shots at the dog when they reached the scene.

The animal rescue service SPCA said the neighbour’s two other dogs had also been removed and handed over to the SPCA for safekeeping.

It said in a statement: “The Bloemfontein SPCA sends its utmost condolences to the child’s family and will keep them in our thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time.

“The loss of a child is something that no parent, family member or friend has to endure, and all the loved ones have our utmost sympathy.”

It added: “The Bloemfontein SPCA will also make collection services available to any owner that does not have the means to take aggressive animals to the SPCA directly.

“The loss of life, any life, is tragic and in a preventive measure, we would like to plead with the public that aggressive animals should be surrendered to the Bloemfontein society so that similar incidents do not occur and that even at the end of an aggressive animal’s life it is treated with dignity and respect.”

South Africa is said to have the highest incidence of dog attack deaths in the world in relation to population.

In September, 10-year-old Storm Nuku of Gqeberha – formerly Port Elizabeth – in Eastern Cape was mauled to death by his family’s two pit bulls.

The Sizwe Kupelo Foundation then started a petition to ban the country’s residents from keeping pit bulls as pets.

It has been signed by 45,000 people so far.

Its founder and patron, Sizwe Kupelo, said: “We cannot continue losing young people like Storm Nuku to these vicious dogs that have shown time and again that they should not be kept as pets.

“The defence by pit bull lovers that it is how you raise the dog does not hold water. So many people, including joggers, have been attacked and killed by pit bulls.

“It is time that the South African government takes decisive steps and impose a complete ban on the ownership of pit bulls as domestic animals.”