A Spanish tourist died after an elephant ran over her forcefully with its trunk at a popular animal sanctuary in Thailand.
Blanca Ojanguren García, 22, from Valladolid, was bathing an elephant on Friday at the Koh Yao sanctuary, on the Thai island of Yao Yai, when the animal suddenly inflicted the fatal blow on her.
García, a law and international relations student, was rushed to a nearby hospital where she later died.
According to Spanish national newspaper El País, the incident was confirmed by local police and the elephant care center, which currently remains closed.
Reports had previously claimed that the university student had been gored by the elephant, but the Spanish news agency EFE verified that this was not the case.
The incident was confirmed by local police and the sanctuary, which is currently closed as a result of the tragic accident.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that there were around 18 people present at the time of the incident, including García’s boyfriend.
No one else was reportedly injured.
Blanca Ojanguren García, 22, from Valladolid, died in Thailand after an elephant forcefully knocked her down with its trunk at a popular animal sanctuary.
The incident occurred on Friday at the Koh Yao sanctuary on the Thai island of Yao Yai. The image shows tourists posing with an elephant at the elephant care center where García died.
The Spaniard was a student at the University of Navarra but lived in Taiwan while completing six months of studies abroad at the University of Tamkang.
He would have completed his bachelor’s degree this year.
Spain’s Foreign Ministry said the consulate in Bangkok was in contact with García’s family.
His body has since been transferred to a hospital on the island of Phuket, where repatriation procedures are being prepared.
The mayor of Valladolid, Jesús Julio Carnero, went to X to offer his “deepest condolences” to García’s family.
Bathing elephants is a popular tourist activity in the Southeast Asian country.
Thailand has a population of around 3,500 elephants. According to World Animal Protection, a nonprofit organization dedicated to animal welfare, around 2,800 elephants live in tourist locations across the country.
Elephants are rarely aggressive, but may act if they feel threatened or to protect their young.
The Spaniard was a student at the University of Navarra but lived in Taiwan while completing six months of studies abroad at the University of Tamkang.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that there were around 18 people present at the time of the incident, including García’s boyfriend (pictured).
The tragedy comes months after a Spanish tourist was horribly crushed to death in front of his fiancée by a herd of angry elephants after he wandered out of their care to take photographs in a South African game reserve.
Carlos Luna, 43, from Ejea de los Caballeros, near Zaragoza, Spain, was visiting the Pilanesberg National Park near the world-famous Sun City resort with his fiancé when they spotted a breeding herd with three calves next to a lake.
Despite warnings from his three traveling companions to get back in the car, Luna said he wanted to take close-ups of the six elephants, got out and walked towards them.
The screaming Spaniard was then seen running with his camera to safety through the forest towards his friends in the car, but was overtaken by a herd of chasing elephants and knocked down and trampled to death.
The only thing that witnesses said was left after the 30-second attack was the tourist’s tattered, blood-soaked clothing and the remains of the tourist’s body crushed into the ground.