Zimbabwe's new president says he risked gunfire and land mines while escaping a plot to "eliminate" him after Robert Mugabe fired him as his deputy last year.

A state-run Zimbabwe Herald report Saturday says President Emmerson Mnangagwa revealed the details in remarks to Zimbabweans during a visit to Angola.

Mnangagwa said he fled Zimbabwe hours after his firing, warned of plans to "eliminate" him. He said he traveled to a border post with Mozambique but was told he could not leave. He said one of his sons thwarted an effort to shoot him.

Mnangagwa said he walked for 10 hours and then took a plane from Beira city to South Africa.

He returned days later in triumph to Zimbabwe after Mugabe resigned under pressure from the military and ruling party.