Bear breaks out and kills Russian zoo worker

A female worker at a Siberian zoo has been mauled to death after a bear broke out of its cage, police said today.

The bear, nicknamed Bourbon, jumped on the woman as she fed gophers in a neighbouring cage at the Zheleznogorsk Zoo in Krasnoyarsk, 2,100 miles east of Moscow.

Doctors were unable to save the woman, who died of her injuries after being rushed to hospital, police spokesman Viktor Korolyov said.

Another zoo worker was being treated in hospital after also being attacked, he said. Local media said a criminal investigation was launched.