22-year-old tourist killed while bathing elephant at Thailand sanctuary – National

A 22-year-old tourist was killed by a elephant in a sanctuary in Thailand after the animal turned on her while she gave it a bath, according to local media reports.

Spanish newspapers The world and The Country report that Blanca Ojanguren García, from northwestern Spain, was bathing an elephant next to her friend at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Center on Friday, January 3, when the elephant attacked her.

She was taken to the local hospital, where she died.

García, who was a law and international relations student at Spain’s University of Navarra, lived in Taiwan as part of a student exchange program. She had traveled to Thailand on holiday with her boyfriend.

The Faculty of Law of the University of Navarra issued a statement on Friday, sharing their condolences and ask for prayers.

Jesus Carnero, the mayor of Valladolid, where García is from, also shared his condolences with her family, friends and schoolmates.

The owner of the sanctuary told El Mundo that García and her friend were among a handful of tourists at the center that day, and were brought together by approximately 10 employees to bathe the animals.

The owner told El Mundo the elephant hit the woman with the torso. No one else was injured in the attack.

Experts told local media that the elephant was probably stressed by the pressure of living and interacting with tourists.

The Koh Yao Elephant Care Center says online it is committed to “providing responsible and ethical interactions with elephants” and does not “control” or “use a hook on our elephants.”

Visiting with elephants is a popular tourist activity in Thailand, and although the creatures are usually considered gentle giants, they sometimes attack visitors.

According to El Pais, there have been in the past 12 years 240 fatal incidents with elephants in Thailand, including 39 last year.

Asian elephants are considered an endangered species, and about 2,800 of the animals are kept in captivity in tourist facilities about Thailand, according to figures from World Animal Protection.

& copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.