Elephant tosses US tourist out of vehicle and tramples her to death
A US tourist was thrown out of a vehicle by an elephant and trampled to death in Zambia.
Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, of New Mexico, was watching a herd of elephants near the Maramba Cultural Bridge in Livingstone on Wednesday when one of the animals attacked the vehicle.
Tourneau died around 5.50pm ‘after being knocked from a parked vehicle which had stopped due to traffic caused by elephants around the Maramba Cultural Bridge’, Southern Province Police Commissioner Auxensio Daka told Zambian station ZNBC on Friday.
It happened at a known elephant corridor, according to ZNBC reporter Angela Limwanya.
A few meters away, Livingstone resident Ruth Chisowa said that an elephant fell into a soakaway while looking for food, causing her property damage.
‘The government needs to finds a lasting solution because these animals are destroying our property,’ Chisowa told the broadcasting station, and asked for help to fix it.
Local officials have said the elephant population is expected to increase in residential areas as they search for food amid the drought.
No additional details about Tourneau were immediately released.
Zambian officials have advised tourists to be extremely cautious while observing wildlife.
It was the second such tourist death in Zambia this year.
In March, a bull elephant chased a safari truck full of tourists and charged it at Kafue National Park and flipped the vehicle, killing 79-year-old Gail Mattson of Minnesota. The terrifying encounter was captured on video, with a woman saying, ‘Oh my goodness’, and a man saying, ‘Uh oh, coming fast’.
One other guest on the vehicle was seriously hurt and four others suffered minor injuries.
Mattson was pictured smiling and holding a flower while sitting in the vehicle just before the attack. Her friend said she was on her ‘last big adventure’ and celebrating ahead of her 80th birthday in the summer.
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