22-year-old tourist killed while bathing elephant at Thailand sanctuary

A 22-year-old tourist was killed by an elephant at a sanctuary in Thailand after the animal turned on her while she was giving it a bath, according to local media reports.

Spanish newspapers El Mundo and El Pais report that Blanca Ojanguren García, from northwest Spain, was bathing an elephant alongside her boyfriend at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre on Friday, Jan. 3, when the elephant attacked her.

She was rushed to the local hospital, where she died.

García, who was a law and international relations student at Spain’s University of Navarra, was living in Taiwan as part of a student exchange program. She had travelled to Thailand on vacation with her boyfriend.

University of Navarra’s law faculty issued a statement on X Friday, sharing its condolences and asking for prayers.

Jesus Carnero, the mayor of Valladolid, where García is from, also shared his condolences with her family, friends and schoolmates.

The owner of the sanctuary told El Mundo that García and her boyfriend were among a handful of tourists at the centre that day, and were joined by approximately 10 staff to bathe the animals.

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The owner told El Mundo the elephant struck the woman with its trunk. No one else was injured in the attack.

Experts told local media the elephant was likely stressed by the pressure of living and interacting with tourists.

The Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre says online it is committed to “providing responsible and ethical interactions with elephants” and does not “control” or “use a hook on our elephants.”

Visiting with elephants is a popular tourist activity in Thailand, and while the creatures are mostly considered to be gentle giants, they occasionally attack visitors.

According to El Pais, in the past 12 years there have been 240 fatal incidents involving elephants in Thailand, including 39 last year.

Asian elephants are considered an endangered species, and about 2,800 of the animals are held in captivity in tourism facilities across Thailand, according to figures from World Animal Protection.