Girl dies after elephant throws large rock, hitting her in the head
WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: A seven-year-old girl has died after a zoo elephant tossed a rock into the air, hitting her on the head.
Local media reported that the girl's father had lifted her onto his shoulders while his wife prepared to take a photo of them.
The family were standing outside of the animal's enclosure, in Rabat Zoo in Morocco, with their backs to the elephant.
Behind them, female elephant Assia picked up a nearby rock with her trunk and hurled the rock into the air.
The large stone hit the schoolgirl in the back of her head, knocking her unconscious immediately.
Graphic footage from a bystander has shown the incident and the aftermath, as family and staff gathered around to help the young girl lying on the ground.
She was then taken to a nearby hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
A spokesman for the zoo has apparently denied the girl's death was the zoo's responsibility, news.com.au has reported.
"Accidents of this type are rare, unforeseeable and unusual," the spokesman said in a statement.
"Accidents of this nature happened in international zoos, most recently in Disney World Orlando and the Cincinnati Zoo in the United States."
He also made the point that here had been "no security breaches" and the girl had not crossed into a protective area outside the enclosure.
Social media has been divided over the incident, with some suggesting that the ambulance took too long to arrive.
Others highlighted a "lack of staff" at the zoo, which opened in 2012.
The incident is the first of its kind for the zoo.
