Tourist trampled to death by elephant in South Africa while taking photos

The 43-year-old European man arrived at the Pilanesberg National Park game reserve in his private vehicle on July 7, accompanied by his fiancee and two other women, according to Sabata Mokgwabone, a police spokesman for the North West province in South Africa.

Police said the man and his passenger were visiting the park when they “spotted three elephants and three baby elephants.” The man stopped the car, got out, and approached to take photos before being fatally mauled by the elephants.

Pilanesberg Game Reserve is South Africa's fourth largest park and a popular tourist destination. Photo: Shutterstock

The province's tourist board said the Spanish tourist ignored warnings from other passengers at the scene before approaching the elephants.

"An adult female elephant charged at the man, who then ran away but was unfortunately attacked by the entire herd and trampled to death," the tourism board said in a statement.

The report also added that the herd of elephants left the scene afterwards and did not attack anyone. According to the testimony of witnesses who witnessed the entire incident, the female elephant charged and attacked possibly because she wanted to protect the herd and her calves.

The tourist board expressed sadness over the incident at Pilanesberg Park, and urged visitors to "respect the distance between vehicles and animals... and only alight in specially designated areas".

Officials said plans were being made to repatriate the tourist's body.

Elephant attacks are not uncommon in South Africa. In 2019, an illegal intruder was attacked and killed by an elephant, whose body was later eaten by lions in Kruger National Park in northeastern South Africa. That same year, a security guard was trampled to death by an elephant at a mine in the country’s Limpopo province.

Other parts of South Africa have seen similar tragedies. Three months ago, an elderly American woman was killed after an elephant plowed into a tourist vehicle in Zambia’s largest national park.

Hoai Phuong (according to CNN, La Vanguardia)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/du-khach-bi-voi-giam-tu-vong-o-nam-phi-khi-dang-chup-anh-post303029.html