American woman killed by elephant in Zambia in second such attack this year

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

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

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

“Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, of New Mexico, United States of America, died Wednesday at approximately 5:50 p.m. after being thrown from a parked vehicle that had been stopped due to traffic caused by elephants around the Maramba Cultural Bridge,” said Southern Province Police Commissioner , Auxensio Daka. This was reported by the Zambian national broadcaster ZNBC.

It is the second such attack this year after others An American tourist was killed during a game drive in Kafue National Park in Zambia in March this year. In that incident, an elephant charged and overturned a truck, killing the tourist and injuring five others.

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

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

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

The vehicle stops and then another voice, presumably the game warden, tries to verbally fend off the elephant as the large pachyderm hooks its tusks onto the vehicle and rolls them several times.

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