84-Year-Old French Man Killed By Runaway Elephant

The fate of the elephant is still unknown.

An 84-year-old French man died Monday as a result of injuries sustained by a runaway circus elephant, Le Parisien reports.

Tania, a 25 year-old African Bush elephant, performed as usual in the Cirque d'Europe's Sunday afternoon show in Lizy-sur-Ourcq and was returning to her enclosure when she reportedly grabbed a tarpaulin and placed it over the electric fence surrounding her pen. The elephant proceeded to break through the pen and several other barriers in order to make her escape, running directly towards a group of people playing pétanque (a form of boules/bocci) in the city square.

The elephant struck one of the elderly players with her trunk, slamming him to the ground. The unidentified man was transported by helicopter to a nearby hospital, where he died overnight from injuries sustained during the attack.

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