A circus elephant taken to the Estonian-Russian border river in this northeast Estonian border town for a bath on Friday afternoon died for an as yet unknown reason.
Circus elephant dies taking dip in Narva River
9th June 2013, 17:28
Please note that the article is more than five years old and belongs to our archive. We do not update the content of the archives, so it may be necessary to consult newer sources.
The Delfi portal, which reported about the death, said the elephant named Medi was touring Estonia with the circus of Estonian promoter Lauri Viikna.
Spokespeople for the G4S security company that is responsible for water rescue at Narva's Joaoru beach said the elephant appeared on the beach accompanied by several persons at 3:38 p.m. Personnel from the water rescue station insisted against letting the animal into the water, but the handlers refused to obey. Police were called to the scene after the handlers had ignored repeated orders from the G4S personnel to take the elephant away from the public beach.
All of a sudden the animal became lethargic and the handlers began to lead it out of the river. After a few minutes the elephant fell on its side and died.
The water rescue personnel then called to the scene rescuers who arranged for the dead animal to be hoisted on a dump truck with a crane and taken away.