Second such attack this year: American woman killed by elephant in Zambia

A New Mexico woman visiting Zambia was trampled and killed by an elephant on Wednesday, local authorities said, the second such attack in the country this year.

Officials said 64-year-old Juliana Gle Tourneau was killed on Friday when an elephant, part of a herd that tourists were watching in the Zambian city of Livingstone, attacked her vehicle. Tourneau was thrown from the vehicle and trampled to death by the elephant.

Tourneau was part of a group that had stopped near the Maramba Cultural Bridge due to traffic caused by the herd of elephants near the bridge, officials added.

“Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, of New Mexico, United States of America, died at about 5.50pm on Wednesday after she was pushed from a parked vehicle that had come to a stop due to traffic caused by elephants around the Maramba Cultural Bridge,” Southern Province Police Commissioner Auxensio Daka told Zambian national broadcaster ZNBC.

This is the second attack of this kind this year after a An American tourist died during a game viewing trip in Kafue National Park in Zambia in March of this year.In this incident, an elephant attacked a truck, overturned it, killed the tourist and injured five others.

Family members confirmed that Gail Mattson, a 79-year-old from Minnesota, was killed in the attack. In a post on Facebook, Rona Wells said her mother died in a “tragic accident during her dream adventure.”

The attack was captured in a harrowing cellphone video. The clip, shot by tourists, begins in an open safari vehicle during a game drive.

In the distance, a large bull elephant can be seen approaching the vehicle. The occupants of the vehicle are not seen in the video clip, but someone can be heard saying “Oh my goodness” before a man says, “It’s coming fast.”

The vehicle stops and then another voice, presumably that of the gamekeeper, tries to verbally dissuade the elephant as the large pachyderm hooks its tusks into the vehicle and flips it over several times.

Zambian authorities have urged tourists to exercise extreme caution when viewing wildlife across the country.