Circus artist stuck on the ground and assaulted by a lion in front of shocked spectators – World News

A lion coach luckily survived after being attacked by a circus lion in front of shocked spectators.

Hamada Kouta, 32, a native of Egypt, was grounded when one of the two lions threw himself on him during a performance in Lugansk, Ukraine.

He was injured on the arm, leg and back.

The video captured by one of the audience members shows the lion trainer getting up after fighting the animal.

Hamada escapes a second attack as the lions retreat and return to their enclosures.

A mother who was watching the show with her two children said, "My heart stopped when the lion jumped on the coach."

Hamada, who has many years of experience in Russian circuses, recalled the moment of the potentially fatal attack.

He said: "I called a lion and the second m attacked from the front.

"I stopped him in the middle of the ring, I calmed him down, but he refused to return to his sitting position.

"I stepped back, there was a position behind me, I hit it and I fell in. The lion jumped on it and bit me – but Thank God it's not on my neck. "

The attack left Hamada with a deep back injury, scars and teeth marks on the arm and leg.

Hamada, who treated the lions as his children, said the lions were unstable and stressed because they were required to perform shortly after arriving in a new place.

He explained: "When an animal attacks a trainer, it is an error of his coach to 99%.

"Anyway, these are my children, so I know that anything can happen, but it will never end with death because they are my children.

"I know them and trust them more than people."

Traveling circuses have recently been banned in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, but Lugansk is not yet in power in Kiev.