Elephant Kills Spanish Tourist While She Was Bathing the Animal Alongside Her Boyfriend in Thailand: Reports

A 22-year-old Spanish tourist was killed by an elephant in Thailand while she was bathing the animal at an elephant center, according to reports.

Blanca Ojanguren García, from Valladolid in northwest Spain, was bathing an elephant at Koh Yao Elephant Care on Friday, Jan. 3, when the elephant killed her, per translated reports from Spanish newspapers El Mundo and El Pais.

García, a law and international relations student at the University of Navarra, was pushed by the animal’s trunk, El Mundo reported, citing police in the Koh Yao Yai, Thailand.

Previous reports noted that the elephant gored the student, but Spanish news agency EFE verified that she was not gored, per the Daily Mail. El Mundo also reported her death was not caused by the elephant’s tusks.

According to El Mundo, which cited the elephant center’s owner, 18 people — including the victim’s boyfriend — were present for the attack and no one else was injured. She was rushed to a local hospital and died.

A contact for Koh Yao Elephant Care did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Sunday, Jan. 5.

Later that day, University of Navarra’s law faculty issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter), as it shared its condolences and asked for prayers.

Valladolid Mayor Jesús Julio Carnero shared a tribute to García on X on Friday, alongside an image of her, as he offered his “deepest condolences” to her loved ones in a translated message.

Per El Pais, sources from Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the consulate in Bangkok was in contact with the family of the victim — who the Daily Mail reported had been studying abroad at Tamkang University.

Koh Yao Elephant Care remained closed following her death, per the Daily Mail and El Mundo.

According to the Spanish publication, the center’s owner said they have three elephants on site, including the 50-year-old female elephant involved in the incident, and get about 10 to 30 daily visitors.

Koh Yao Elephant Care’s apparent last post on Facebook before the reported attack was a New Year’s post, featuring an image of a family watching and recording an elephant while sitting on a bench.

According to World Animal Protection, nearly 2,800 “captive elephants live in tourism venues” across the country, with Thailand also being home to 15% of the 52,000 Asian elephants “currently living in the wild.”

The latest reported elephant attack comes less than a month after a 49-year-old woman died after reportedly being attacked by an elephant after walking in Thailand’s Phu Kradueng National Park.

On Facebook, Phu Kradueng National Park confirmed that a visitor died following wild elephants attacking tourists on Dec. 11, with the park offering its “deepest condolences to the bereaved family.”