Elephant tramples tour guide to death after tourist grabs his tail

A Chinese tour guide was killed and two others injured by an elephant at an orchard in Thailand.

According to Coconut, the victim was a 34-year-old Chinese man who worked as a tour guide. He was kicked to death by a 17-year-old male elephant named Uthen while taking a group on a tour of the Triangle fruit garden in Choburi, Thailand on December 23. Two other tourists suffered minor injuries.

The elephant handler, Yu Yungram, 37, said he was taking two Chinese tourists on a ride around the park when they encountered dozens of other Chinese tourists. Yu tried to warn them not to approach the elephant, but they refused to listen and started taking pictures with selfie sticks.

One of the tourists even pulled the elephant's tail, causing it to become angry. Sakda Malee, a security guard at the park, said that when the elephant went berserk, people panicked and ran in different directions.

The Chinese tour guide died at the scene. Two people were riding on the elephant, one was thrown to the ground but was fine, the other got down safely when the elephant Uthen calmed down.

Police are questioning witnesses as they investigate the incident. No one has been charged.

According to Tung Anh/ngoisao.net