A zoo official in Spain died after being hit by the trunk of an elephant, hitting his head against the bars of an enclosure, the zoo and local officials said.
The elephant weighing about 4,000 kg (8,800lb) hit the 44-year-old woman with her trunk on Wednesday morning in the Cabarceno Natural Park, near the northern city of Santander, the zoo said. The man was rushed to the hospital, where he died of his injuries, about three hours later.
At the time, the team was cleaning the elephant stables as part of their daily tasks and the elephant was with her calf in the compound.
“We are talking about unpredictable animals,” said Javier Lopez Marcano, minister of tourism for the regional government of Cantabria, who owns the zoo.
“The force of the attack was tremendous, of a magnitude that no one could survive.”
The police and the zoo said they had opened an investigation. It is the first such incident in the park’s 31-year history.
The Cabarceno Natural Park is home to almost 120 species of animals, including wolves, tigers, lions and jaguars that live in large enclosures where one or more species coexist.
Last year, a 46-year-old goalkeeper was attacked by a 200-pound gorilla at the Madrid Zoo Aquarium, leaving her with two broken arms and injuries to her chest and head.