White tiger attacks and kills schoolboy inside New Delhi Zoo

Posted September 24, 2014 07:06:34

A white tiger at the New Delhi Zoo has attacked and killed an Indian schoolboy who is believed to have jumped or fallen into its enclosure.

'The boy seems to have leapt over the railing into the tiger enclosure,' zoo manager, Mr Riaz Khan says.

'We are trying to find out who this boy was and why he did what he did. The police are here and they are investigating,' he says.

A witness, who identified himself only as Himanshu, said he raced to the tiger enclosure at the New Delhi Zoo after hearing screams, to see the boy locked in the tiger's jaws and 'writhing badly in pain'.

'Around 1.30pm, when we were in the reptiles area, we heard very loud screams,' he said.

'We saw some kids throwing in small sticks and stones inside the tiger enclosure.

'Then we saw that a white tiger had caught a boy by his neck and he was writhing badly in pain.

'He kept suffering for the next 10 to 15 minutes but nobody helped him.'

Himanshu said the railing of the tiger enclosure was 'very low' and speculated that the boy may have fallen inside.

'I called the police, the police came very quickly, but the guy couldn't be saved, he died,' he said.

It is not yet known what will happen to the animal.

White tigers are found in southern and eastern Asia, particularly India, and are regarded as an endangered species.

AFP