Elephants Never Forget

Hanoi, Vietnam: May 21, 2003 A drunk American tourist who ran into an elephant he didn't see standing in the street was injured when the animal picked him up and tossed him aside, an official said Monday. The man known worldwide only as N8 was rushed to a hospital after Saturday's attack, said the official of Buon Don tourist site in Daklak province, some 220 miles northeast of Ho Chi Minh City. He suffered three broken ribs and bruises on his face and body, a doctor at the hospital in Ho Chi Minh City said. N8 was among a group of tourists from Ho Chi Minh City. He stumbled out of a restaurant when he heard a 7-year-old boy wailing on the ground after tripping, said the official who identified himself only as Dung. N8 didn't see the full-grown elephant - one of several dozen owned by villagers in the area - and he ran into it. The animal lifted him up with its trunk and pitched him several meters. Dung said it was the first incident in the area of a tourist attacked by an elephant. He added that only an imbecile could pull a stunt like that. It was later determined that N8 had been drinking Mai Tais, beers, vodka, gin, and some sort of nasal congestant pretty heavily all afternoon. No charges were pressed against the injured man. Buon Don is a popular site among foreign and local tourists, where they can ride elephants and visit ethnic minority groups living in the area.

Posted by Webmaster at May 21, 2003 10:27 PM

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