A tiger at a safari park in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photos are not related to the article. AP = Yonhap News
At a safari in Chile, an employee in his 20s who was cleaning the inside of a cage was bitten to death by a tiger.
According to local media such as Reuters and the Chilean daily Latersera on the 6th (local time), a 21-year-old female employee was bitten by a tiger at a safari park in Langcagua, 90 km south of the capital Santiago, on the same day.
Local police said the employee had an accident while cleaning the tiger cage. A local police official explained, “The staff didn’t seem to know that the iron cage that kept the tiger was open, and he was attacked by a tiger and died on the spot.”
The accident happened before the safari opened yet. Currently, the safari park is closed, and investigations by investigative agencies such as the police and prosecutors are ongoing.
According to the safari, animals move freely when visitors drive by, but keep the animals in cages when employees do other tasks, such as cleaning the cage. Latersera said that the statements of the Safari and the staff about the circumstances at the time of the accident were mixed.
A safari official said, “I don’t know why the cleaning staff at the time opened the tiger cage and entered.” On the other hand, another employee claimed, “The deceased employee was only instructed to clean the cage and did not know if the cage containing the tiger was open.”
Accordingly, the local investigative authorities are planning to conduct an investigation by listening to the statements of the staff to confirm whether Safari is at fault.
Reporter Unchae Na na.unchae@joongang.co.kr
