Chinese tour guide trampled to death by elephant while saving tourist in Thailand

Sang Yarong China Plus Published: 2017-12-23 15:17:28
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A Chinese tour guide was trampled to death on Thursday by an elephant while saving the life of a tourist in the city of Pattaya, on the east coast of Thailand.

A report in Chongqing Morning Post said 35-year-old He Yongjie, a tour guide with a Chongqing-based travel agency, was leading a tour group to an elephant camp located in a fruit orchard.

According to a witness, an elephant carrying two tourists on its back went out of control, running into the crowd and hitting a woman named Lai Tianli who was in He's tour group.

Seeing the attack, He rushed forward to drag Lai to safety. The elephant then attacked He, rolling him up in its trunk, throwing him to the ground, and stomping on him.

When local police and paramedics arrived, He was found dead at the scene having suffered catastrophic injuries to his head and chest.

Local police arrive at the scene where a Chinese tour guide was trampled to death by an elephant in Pattaya, Thailand, on December 21, 2017. [Photo: Sina Weibo]

Local police arrive at the scene where a Chinese tour guide was trampled to death by an elephant in Pattaya, Thailand, on December 21, 2017. [Photo: Sina Weibo]

The two tourists riding on the elephant at the time of the attack were injured and rushed to a nearby hospital. One remains in hospital, while the other has since been released.

The owner of the fruit orchard has asked their insurance company to pay the medical fees for the tourists and has offered them compensation.

The elephant is a 17-year-old bull elephant called "Plai Uthen," whose owner and handler told local Bangkok Post that a tourist pulled the elephant's tail, making it angry.

The 17-year-old bull elephant Plai Uthen that killed a Chinese tour guide in Pattaya, Thailand [File photo: Sina Weibo]

The 17-year-old bull elephant Plai Uthen that killed a Chinese tour guide in Pattaya, Thailand [File photo: Sina Weibo]

Local police said the cause of the incident needed further investigation. Both the orchard owner and handler might be legally responsible for the incident if they are found to have been reckless.

China's embassy in Thailand has asked Thai authorities to retain custody of He's body and to ensure treatment is provided to the injured tourists.

He, a Chongqing native, has been a tour guide since 2004 when he graduated from the Japanese department of Sichuan International Studies University. Married for just three years, his family have been informed of the incident and arrived in Thailand on December 22.

In recent years, accidents involving elephants attacking or killing humans have occurred in Thailand almost every year. An elephant speared its handler to death with its tusks in Chiengmai in 2015. In the same year, an elephant trampled a male tourist to death on beach in eastern Thailand. An elephant stomped a British citizen to death in an incident in Koh Samui in 2016.

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