The elephant attacked a safari truck at Kafue National Park in Zambia on Saturday (Pictures: @ginnydmm/Jamie Pyatt News)
An elephant charged at an African safari truck with tourists in Zambia and flipped the vehicle, killing an elderly American woman.
The harrowing moment was captured on 45-second video by an individual on the truck at Kafue National Park. A lone five-ton bull elephant can be seen in the distance running towards the vehicle.
‘Oh my goodness,’ a woman is heard saying.
‘Uh oh, coming fast,’ a man remarks.
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As the elephant continues to rush through the trees and bush, the driver abruptly stops the vehicle.
‘Hey! Hey! Hey!’ someone can be heard yelling.
The elephant uses its trunk and in one swing flips the vehicle. The recording shows a chaotic scene in the tumble.
An 80-year-old woman on the Wilderness Zambia tour died from the attack, Keith Vincent, CEO of the organizing group, told the Daily Mail. She was not immediately identified.
The video showed the bull elephant pursuing the safari vehicle (Picture: X/@ginnydmm)
The driver stopped the vehicle suddenly (Picture: X/@ginnydmm)
Five other guests were on the tour, and one was seriously injured and four sustained minor injuries. The seriously injured victim was airlifted to a private medical facility in South Africa. All the guests were reportedly staying at the Lufupa River Camp.
The game drive was ‘unexpectedly chaired by the bull elephant’ around 9.30am on Saturday, stated Vincent.
‘Our guides are all extremely well-trained and experienced, but sadly in this instance the terrain and vegetation was such that the guide’s route became blocked and he could not move the vehicle out of harm’s way quickly enough.’
Vincent added that management at the national park, which is the second largest safari location in the world, offered immediate assistance.
An American tourist died as the safari vehicle was flipped (Picture: Facebook)
Five other tourists on the vehicle were injured (Picture: X/@ginnydmm)
’This is an extremely tragic event and we extend our deepest condolences to the family of the guest who died,’ Vincent stated.
‘We are also, naturally supporting those guests and the guide involved in this distressing incident. The deceased will be repatriated to the USA.’
The elderly woman died more than eight years after an American woman in her 30s was mauled to death while recording a lion at the Gauteng safari park in South Africa.
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