Woman killed as bear attacks tourists

A bear attacked a group of US tourists on a remote trail in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, killing a woman and injuring two other people, authorities said.

The attack happened last night when the group of six tourists were on their way to a cabin about 75 miles north of Bucharest.

The victim, a 31-year-old woman, died from her injuries shortly after the arrival of rescuers, according to reports.

The group initially spotted the bear near a cabin and chased it away when it tried to approach them, but it appeared later on the trail and attacked the group, a local police officer said.

The bear initially attacked a 26-year-old woman, then after she fell down and the other tourists threw stones, it switched its attention to a man.

It bit him on the leg, and then mauled the 31-year-old woman to death, despite desperate efforts by the others in the group who threw stones at the bear.

The bear had earlier bitten a Romanian tourist on the shoulder and attacked sheep, a member of the rescue team reported

Romania is home to about half of Europe’s brown bear population, but attacks on humans are rare. Three years ago, two men died when they were attacked by a rabid bear.

Authorities were searching for the bear to kill it.

Details of the victims were not immediately available.