Tourist killed by "panic-stricken" elephant while she was bathing the animal at Thai sanctuary
A "panic-stricken" elephant killed a Spanish tourist while she was bathing the animal at a sanctuary in southern Thailand, police said on Monday.
The 23-year-old woman was hit by the stressed animal's trunk at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre in Phang Nga province, according to police.
"A female tourist was killed while bathing an elephant," Jaran Bangprasert, the local police chief told AFP.
The sanctuary declined to provide details of the incident when contacted by AFP.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo identified the victim as Blanca Ojanguren García. The outlet reported that she and her boyfriend were among eight tourists at the sanctuary when the incident happened. El Pais reported that she was a fifth-year law and international relations student at the University of Navarra and had recently completed her professional internships at Spain's navy headquarters in Madrid.
In a social media post, the mayor of Valladolid, Spain expressed his condolences.
"My deepest condolences to Blanca Ojanguren's family," Jesus Julio Carnero wrote.
Spain's foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said the Spanish consulate in Bangkok was assisting Ojanguren García's family, the BBC reported.
The Koh Yao Centre offers "elephant care" packages that let tourists make food for and feed the animals, as well as shower and walk with them, according to the BBC. These packages cost between 1,900 baht ($55; £44) and 2,900 baht.
Wild elephants have killed 227 people, including tourists, in the past 12 years, according to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
An elephant killed a 49-year-old woman at a national park in Loei province in northern Thailand last month.
Last year, two American women were killed in separate elephant attacks in Zambia.
While encounters between villagers and wild elephants are common, attacks at sanctuaries remain rare.
Bathing elephants is a popular activity among visitors in Thailand, where about 2,800 elephants are held for tourism purposes across the country, according to World Animal Protection.
However, animal rights groups argue that bathing elephants can cause them distress and some sanctuaries in the country do not allow it.
In 2014, park rangers in Thailand found the body of an American woman who was apparently trampled to death by elephants in a reserve outside Bangkok.
