South Africa Lion Park attack: First picture of the car tourist was dragged from and killed

Fatal Incident: The vehicle believed to have been carrying the victim seen in a cordoned-off area

This is the first picture of the vehicle believed to have been carrying a tourist when she was fatally attacked by a lion.

An American woman was killed earlier today at a lion park in Johannesburg, with South African news outlet EWN saying there were two people travelling in the car.


Their windows were apparently down when the fearsome animal grabbed the woman.

There are signs up at the Lion Park warning people to keep their windows closed.

But a picture on the company website appears to show a tourist van with a window open.

The Lion Park confirmed to EWN that the woman, believed to have been in her 40s, was killed yesterday.

The lion managed to crawl inside, killing the woman and seriously injuring the driver.

A man was injured trying to push the lion off the woman.

Scott Simpson, the assistant operations manager said: "Our staff working at the top of the camp tried to get the lion away from the car.

"Ambulances were called immediately but it was too late."

Emergency services arrived at the scene and tried to resuscitate the woman, but were unable to save her.

The lion from the enclosure has been locked up following the incident.

Simpson added: "This is not a common occurrence.

"We have plenty of signage at the park, indicating that windows should always be closed while driving in the lion park.

"Brochures are handed out to all of the tourists who visit the park.

"I really don’t understand why people think its okay to leave windows open."

It is not the first such attack at the attraction.

In March Australian Brendan Smith posted images on Facebook of a lion attacking him at the park.
He admitted that he left his window open on that occasion too.

The Lion Park’s website states: "Nowhere can you get closer to a pride of Lions and other animals and still be completely safe.

"See the animals up close in all the activities that the Lion Park offers, whether you go on a self-drive tour, guided tour or in the new electric silent vehicle – we guarantee that you will get super close to the animals."

Previous guests to the popular site include singers Shakira and John Legend.


(Daily Mirror)