In a tragic incident, 64-year-old Juliana Gle Tourneau from New Mexico was thrown out of her safari vehicle by an elephant and trampled to death near the Maramba Cultural Bridge in Livingstone. Reports indicate she was pronounced dead at a clinic in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. Police stated she suffered severe cuts to her right shoulder blade and forehead, a fractured left foot, and a slightly depressed chest, according to The Metro.
Southern Province Police Commissioner Auxensio Daka told Zambian station ZNBC that the incident occurred around 5:50 pm “after being knocked from a parked vehicle which had stopped due to traffic caused by elephants around the Maramba Cultural Bridge.”
ZNBC also reported that Ruth Chisowa, a Livingstone resident, claimed an elephant damaged her property when it fell into a soakaway while searching for food. Local officials attribute the increased presence of elephants in residential areas to the ongoing drought.
In a separate incident in the Goalpara area of Assam on Saturday, a wild elephant reportedly trampled a 45-year-old man to death. Forest officials identified the deceased as Subhash Chandra Rabha, whose body was discovered early Sunday. “The dead body has been sent for postmortem, and we are talking to the locals about it,” stated the forest officials.
Rabha, a resident of Panditpara village under Rangjuli police station, was attacked by the elephant during a walk at 2 a.m. Villagers reported, “The elephant dragged him to a nearby village and trampled him to death.”