A 22-year-old tourist was killed by an elephant in a reserve in Thailand after the animal turned on her while she was bathing, according to local media reports.
Spanish newspapers Elmondo and El Pais Blanca Oganjuren Garcia, from northwest Spain, was bathing an elephant alongside her boyfriend at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Center on Friday, January 3, when the elephant attacked her, a report said.
She was taken to a local hospital where she died.
Garcia, who was a law and international relations student at Spain’s University of Navarra, had been living in Taiwan as part of a student exchange program. She traveled to Thailand on vacation with her boyfriend.
The University of Navarra’s Faculty of Law issued a statement on Friday Share your condolences He asked for prayers.
Jesus Carneiro, mayor of Valladolid, where Garcia is from, also expressed his condolences to her family, friends and schoolmates.
The shelter owner told El Mundo that Garcia and her boyfriend were among A.J A bunch of tourists At the center that day, about 10 employees joined them to bathe the animals.
The owner told El Mundo the elephant He hit the woman with her torso. No one else was injured in the attack.
Get breaking national news
For news affecting Canada and around the world, sign up to get breaking news alerts delivered to you right as they happen.
Experts told local media that the elephant may have been stressed due to the pressures of living and interacting with tourists.
Koh Yao Elephant Welfare Centre says online It is committed to “providing responsible and ethical interactions with elephants” and does not “control” or “use hooks on our elephants.”
Visiting elephants is a popular tourist activity in Thailand, and while these creatures are mostly gentle giants, they do occasionally attack visitors.
According to El Pais, this has happened in the past 12 years 240 fatal accidents That included elephants in Thailand, including 39 last year.
Asian elephants are an endangered species, and there are about 2,800 of them Detained in tourist facilities All over Thailand, according to World Animal Protection figures.
&Copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
