Lion attacks and mauls American visitor to death in South African tourist park: official

A lion in the Shaba National Reserve in Africa.-- PHOTO: CBS
A lion in the Shaba National Reserve in Africa.-- PHOTO: CBS

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - A lion leapt through a open car window and mauled an American tourist to death at a privately-run game park just outside Johannesburg on Monday (June 1), a park official said.

"There was a car driving to the lion camp and the lion did come through the window and bite the lady," Scott Simpson, operations manager of The Lion Park venue told Talk Radio 702.

"The ambulance arrived quite soon, but the lady had passed away."

The woman and another American tourist, a man, were travelling through the park, northeast of the South African city, with their car windows open. Another report said that the lion dragged the woman from the car.

The second tourist suffered injuries sustained while trying to free the woman, the radio station reported. He was taken to the hospital, said Colonel Lungelo Dlamini, a spokesman for the police, according to Bloomberg.

Earlier this year, an Australian man was bitten by a lion at the same park and a South African was attacked by a cheetah, according to Netwerk24, a news website. A spokesman for the

The attraction, which allows tourists to drive their own vehicles through fenced-off camps containing lions and other predators, says it is the top tourist destination in Gauteng, the South African province that includes Johannesburg and Pretoria.

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