Elephant kills zoo-keeper with blow from trunk

MADRID: Authorities in Spain’s northern Cantabria region are investigating how an elephant killed a worker at a local zoo.The Cantabrian regional government says 44-year-old Joaquin Gutierrez died in a hospital on Tuesday, several hours af ter a female elephant struck him with its trunk while he was cleaning its enclosure at the Cabarceno Nature Park near Santander. The blow knocked Gutierrez back and he hit his head against the pen’s bars, officials said. Gutierrez had been working with elephants at the zoo for almost 20 years. The elephant that struck him had a foot infection and is likely pregnant.