Security guard trampled to death by elephant

A mine security guard has been trampled to death at the Foskor mine in Phalaborwa with his colleague just metres away totally unaware of what was occurring.

JUST IN: A security guard has tragically been trampled to death by an elephant at the Foskor Mine in Phalaborwa. This is the same area where the 14 #lions are being monitored by rangers. I saw a forensic pathology van driving into the premises. I'll try & bring you more on @eNCA.

— Michael 🍏 (@TheMikeAppel) June 8, 2019

The man, named as 45-year-old Eric Kgatla, is believed to have gone out to investigate noises when he happened upon an elephant. His body was discovered by a colleague who had been manning a watch post on the other side of the road, and who was himself investigating what he thought were, “elephant noises”.

“The other security [guard] heard sounds of an elephant, he went out to inspect the sound and upon arrival he found an elephant outside the guard house,” mine spokesperson Frans Mkhondo told News24 on Saturday.

“He phoned for help  … When security arrived, the elephant had disappeared and they found the deceased dead behind the guard house. He was trampled to death,” Mkhondo said.

Enca reporter Mike Appel tweeted a photo of the location showing the distance between the two guards.

Where cars are gathered on the left is where the security guard was trampled to death by an elephant in Phalaborwa. On the right where the 2 white huts are is where another guard ran into when he heard the elephant trumpeting. It is believed he was killed between 4 &4:30am today. pic.twitter.com/BCHDS3WYNv

— Michael 🍏 (@TheMikeAppel) June 8, 2019

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