Johannesburg - South African police discovered the bodies of two people who appeared to have fled crisis-torn Zimbabwe, reports said Thursday

The decayed bodies were discovered in a field near the city of Musina at the weekend. It was unclear what they died of.

A police spokesman said that in some cases people who flee Zimbabwe often die shortly afterwards of AIDS or are attacked by wild animals such as leopards.

The number of Zimbabweans living in South Africa is put at 2 million.

Zimbabwe has been in a state of crisis since presidential elections in March.
Violence caused opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to pull out of a run-off on June 27, leaving President Robert Mugabe to win a controversial sixth term uncontested. (dpa)