A witness has captured the seconds after a schoolgirl was killed in a freak zoo accident when an elephant hurled a rock at her head.
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She had been posing with her family for a photograph beside the animal’s enclosure in the country’s capital of Rabat on Tuesday (July 26).
The girl died at an area hospital after succumbing to her injuries.
The rock hit her on the head.
Footage shot by a bystander and posted on social media shows the unnamed girl being tended to by staff, as her distraught family gather around her.
The video also showed an elephant in the background, and the stone that caused her death.
“This tragic event happened when the elephant threw a projectile which went over the fence, as well as a ditch which separates the animal from visitors”, he said.
“It’s with great sadness that the Rabat Zoo confirms the accidental death of a little girl after an elephant threw a stone at her”, the zoo wrote on Twitter.
In an official statement, the zoo has denied responsibility for the tragedy and added there had been no security breaches.
“Accidents of this type are rare, unforeseeable, and unusual”.
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A statement from the zoo said the animal’s enclosure met with worldwide standards, adding “this kind of accident is rare, unpredictable and unusual”.
