80-year-old American visitor dies in Zambian elephant attack

A big elephant attacked a truck with an 80-year-old American and other sightseers inside at a national park in Zambia. The truck flipped over and the American lady died, according to a safari company.

Five people were hurt in an attack on March 30 in Kafue National Park. The park is very big and covers 22,400 square kilometres. It’s one of the largest animal reserves in Africa.

According to the safari company Wilderness, a very angry male elephant suddenly ran towards the truck that had six guests and a guide on a morning trip through the wild areas.

It wasn’t easy to figure out why the bull was upset. However, in a video that many people have seen online, the elephant is seen aggressively running through the bushy land towards the tourists’ car. A man is yelling “hey hey hey” trying to scare something away, but it doesn’t work. It gets to the truck and turns it over with its trunk.

Another woman who was visiting as a tourist got very hurt and had to be taken to South Africa by helicopter for treatment. The other tourists had smaller injuries and were treated by the company.

“This is a very sad event for everyone involved, and we are doing our best to help the family and everyone affected,” said Tarryn Gibson, who handles communications for the safari company, in a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday. Gibson didn’t say the name of the tourist who died, and mentioned that her family wants to keep things private. The company also told people not to spread the video of the attack on the internet.

Even though there are dangerous animals like elephants and lions in many wildlife parks in southern Africa, it is rare for incidents to happen. Sometimes, these incidents can be deadly because wild animals can be unpredictable.

Keith Vincent, the boss of the safari company, said it would be hard to escape because of the rough ground.

“Our guides are very skilled and have lots of experience, but in this situation, the terrain and plants made it hard for the guide to find a way out quickly,” he said.