Indian elephant kills Dutch man

BBC News
April 7, 2009
A Dutch tourist has been trampled to death by a wild elephant at Kaziranga national park in India's north-eastern state of Assam, officials say.

Kaziranga park director SN Buragohain said Robert Goldbach, 60, was among a group of foreign tourists who had gone to the park early on Tuesday.

Kaziranga is home to thousands of one-horned rhinoceros and the giant Asiatic elephants, among other animals.

More than 150 people have been killed by elephants in Assam since 1999.

Mr Buragohain told the BBC that Mr Goldbach had gone looking for rare birds and monkeys on the eastern edges of the park when he was attacked by an elephant.

"That area has very thick vegetation, so we had given the tourist group a full armed escort and a specialist guide. But it is unfortunate that the guards could not save Mr Goldbach, though they fired on the elephant," he said.

Eight other foreign tourists ran to safety but the wild elephant caught