Unrest in Chile: tiger kills 21-year-old girl cleaning zoo cage

21-year-old woman died after being attacked by a tiger of Rancagua Safari Park, a zoo located south of the Chilean capital. The incident occurred on the morning of Friday August 6, moments before the venue opened to the public.

Police and a prosecutor reported that the victim, who worked in the cleaning area of ​​the parkShe was seriously injured by the animal and died shortly after despite the resuscitation work of emergency medical service personnel who came to the scene to help her.

“Carabinieri personnel went to Rancagua Safari where they declared that a person had been attacked by a tiger”Said captain Williams Espinoza.

The man explained that, according to witnesses, three people entered to perform cleaning tasks, they didn’t realize the cage door was open and at that moment they were struck by the animal. Although two of the workers managed to escape, this is not the case with the young woman.

The head of the Rancagua homicide squad, sub-prefect Ivan Laregla, confirmed in statements to the media Mercury that the fatal victim was a 21-year-old woman: “Together with two of her colleagues, they were cleaning the rails of the animal access gates.”

He also explained that the two employees who were rescued will testify before the judge to advance the investigation and determine what happened, since it is believed that there may have been negligence on the part of the owners of the premises.

Safari Park manager Antonio Rojas said the three people who entered the cage carried out their duties at a door leading to the lion’s area “but all the animals were locked in their enclosures “, he therefore does not understand how the tragedy could have started.

“They approached where the lion safari ends and there is another door that leads to the tiger safari and for some reason they opened the compound which was locked, ”he said.

One of the versions that transpired is that the day before, due to the fog that occurred in Rancagua – a place 100 kilometers from Santiago de Chile – the tiger had not been chained.

On the park’s social networks, they published a text to refer to the news: “With much pain and sorrow, we communicate that due to an unfortunate accident affecting one of our employees, our park will be closed due to mourning until further notice ”.

At the same time, they added: “We hope with all our heart that we can support the family of our collaborator, in addition to expressing our commitment to them as well as to the welfare of our animals, so only basic functions will be performed relating to the care of our patients to the wildlife rehabilitation center and to the residents of the establishment ”.

The place is known to conduct safaris in reinforced vehicles to visit areas of lions, tigers and other animals.