US tourist killed by elephant in Zambia
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An elephant charged towards the group as they were standing there watching the herd.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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A tourist from New Mexico state in the US was killed in Zambia when an elephant charged her, according to the police commissioner who investigated the incident. She is the second tourist to be fatally attacked by an elephant in the southern African country in 2024.
Ms Juliana G Letourneau, 64, of Albuquerque, had just visited Victoria Falls, a 350-foot waterfall that straddles the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and was heading back to her hotel June 19 when the group that she was travelling with encountered a herd of elephants on the road.
She and others stepped out of their vehicle to observe the animals, Mr Auxensio Daka, the police commissioner for the southern province of Zambia, said in a telephone interview June 22.
“They stopped to watch the elephants, and unfortunately, one of them charged towards them as they were standing there watching,” Mr Daka said.
Mr Daka said that Ms Letourneau was taken to a clinic in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park near Livingstone, Zambia, where she was declared dead on arrival. Her injuries included deep wounds on the right shoulder blade and forehead, a fractured left ankle and a slightly depressed chest, according to a police statement.
No other injuries were reported from the encounter with the elephant.
Ms Letourneau’s brother said June 22 that he had no details about the incident and declined to be interviewed. Other relatives could not be reached.
In March, a 79-year-old American woman was on safari at Kafue National Park, in western Zambia, when an elephant charged at the tour group’s vehicle
However, human deaths are rare in encounters with elephants, according to experts.
“This is really a freak accident,” Dr Nikhil Advani, a senior director at the World Wildlife Fund, a non-profit that works on environmental protection and conservation efforts, said of the two incidents happening so close together. “It’s probably just some sort of coming together of unfortunate circumstances that led to this.” NYTIMES
