An 80-year-old American woman died last Saturday after a fatal encounter with a male elephant in the Kafue Nature Reserve in Zambia. Another woman was injured and airlifted to a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, while four other tourists were treated in Zambia for minor injuries.
In the images, recorded by one of the victims with his mobile phone, it is seen how a pachyderm runs after the vehicle in which six tourists and the guide were located for several meters. When the vehicle stops abruptly, the animal reaches for the car and pushes it until it overturns.
Keith Vincent, spokesperson for the Wilderness company, responsible for the safari, explained that the guide was forced to stop the vehicle when the road was blocked. “Our guides are extremely well trained and experienced, but unfortunately on this occasion the terrain and vegetation blocked the route and the guide was unable to move the vehicle out of danger quickly enough.”
Although they are not common, elephant attacks are not strange in the Kafue reserve, where the presence of poachers increases the aggressiveness of the pachyderms. A week ago, a Zambian national was found dead in the same park after an attack by another elephant. The 70-year-old man was surprised by the animal when he was walking to the health center closest to his village.
