London - Getting up close and personal with some of nature’s most fearsome beasts is the main attraction of a safari holiday.
Unfortunately for two British tourists, one elephant took his brief a little too seriously.
The newly engaged couple’s car was rammed, skewered and tossed upside down by the bull elephant, which lashed out after also trying to attack the car in front.
Amazingly the couple, Chris Hare and Helen Jennings, both 40, escaped the incident at the Kruger National Park with just minor injuries.
Hare said: “When I came around the bend, the big guy was right in front of us. He walked towards us and I pulled off the road. The elephant appeared to walk past the car but then turned back, pushing a tusk against the passenger door and rolling the car.
“It was terrifying and I just thought: ‘But it can’t be possible that this is happening’.”
Vasti Fourie, who was travelling in a convoy through the park when she witnessed the attack on the hatchback, said: “It charged towards the side of the car, lifted it up with its tusk, dropped it on its roof and calmly walked away.
“It all happened so quickly. We drove around the corner and saw the driver of the flipped car kneeling down in shock.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life and I’m sure they haven’t either.”
Hare and Jennings, from Stockton-on-Tees, are understood to have been spending three days on holiday at the national park before flying on to Durban.
Rangers later said they found blood on the car and thought that the elephant might have a tooth abscess.
It is now being tracked to see if it needs treatment.
South Africa National Parks spokesman Reynold Thakhuli warned tourists to take extra care around wild animals and allow nothing to protrude from their cars.
He said: “When you see an animal approaching do not panic and try to move away as fast as you can.
“Elephants can be very dangerous when they feel threatened.” - Daily Mail