The tourist died after the attack in Kafue National Park.
An elderly American tourist was killed after an “aggressive” elephant attacked a car during a drive in Zambia, a safari company said.
The incident occurred on Saturday morning in Kafue National Park in Zambia, a Lusaka police spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.
“An aggressive elephant attacked the vehicle carrying six guests and a guide who were on a drive from Lufupa Camp,” Wilderness, the company running the safari, said in a statement to ABC News Wednesday.
The 80-year-old woman was injured during the “unexpected” accident and was taken to a hospital in South Africa, where she later died, according to the Wilderness website. The company said that four other people received treatment for minor injuries after the accident.
“The six guests were on a game drive when the bull elephant unexpectedly collided with the vehicle,” Keith Vincent, CEO of Wilderness, said in the statement, adding that the safari guide’s vehicle was “locked” due to the terrain at the time of the attack.
“All of our guides are well-trained and very experienced, but unfortunately in this case the terrain and vegetation was so severe that the guide’s path became blocked and he was unable to move the vehicle out of harm’s way fast enough,” Vincent said.
Following the attack, the Kafue National Park administration was immediately called to assist and a helicopter was dispatched to the scene, according to Vincent. He added that local police, Zambia National Parks and Wildlife Department and other authorities are involved in the investigation.
Vincent said Wilderness is cooperating with the investigation.
“This is a tragic event and we offer our sincere condolences to the family of the guest who died,” he said in the statement. “We also, of course, support these guests and the guide involved in this traumatic incident.”
The statement said that the elderly woman's remains will be returned to her family in the United States with the support of local Zambian authorities and the US Embassy in Lusaka.
Last month, a similar bull elephant attack occurred in Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa.
Videos of the incident, which occurred on March 18, show a bull elephant lifting the 22-seater safari truck several times with its trunk before letting it fall. No deaths were reported in that incident.
“We were definitely scared, especially for the people who were in the truck because we thought they might die,” Hendry Blom, a bystander who captured the incident on camera, told ABC News.
— ABC News' Victoria Polley contributed to this report.
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