elephant
Two tourists were trampled to death at the Mosi-o-tunya National Park in Livingstone, Zambia, on 11 November 2017 DIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP/Getty Images

Two tourists were trampled to death by a charging elephant in Zambia on Saturday (11 November).

Dutchman Wim van Griensven, 64, and his Belgian friend Sabine Goossens, 57, were stood 25m away from a herd of elephants at the Mosi-o-tunya National Park in Livingstone when one of the beasts became enraged and charged at them.

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The pair, who were staying at the Maramba River Lodge, were killed as "they went close to the elephant trying to take photographs," police spokesman Danny Mwale said. Police found them lying on the ground with multiple injuries.

One of van Griensven's relatives told Dutch newspaper AD that he tried to save Goossens but that both were killed when the animal attacked them a second time.

Goossens had been living in Zambia for sixteen years and was very used to being around wild animals, her family said. On her Facebook page, she had shared several pictures of the animals and her trips to national parks in Zambia.

Senior Wildlife Warden Lewis Daka told ZNBC news that tourists should keep their distance from the elephants as they are wild and dangerous. He said that last week a security officer from one of the lodges in Livingstone was trampled by an elephant while going to work.