A 29-year-old woman has been brutally mauled to death by a brown bear during a camping trip in Russia’s Altai Mountains, just a day after her fiancé proposed to her.
According to reports, Snezhana Korolyova and her fiancé were staying at a campsite in the village of Artybash, in southern Siberia, when a bear attacked their tent at around 1am.
The couple, who had gotten engaged the day before, were awakened by noises as the animal tore through their tent and then dragged the 29-year-old woman away. The bear killed the woman and then carried her body across the Biya River.
Game rangers and police fired into the air to scare the animal away, but did not hit it. According to witnesses, authorities claimed that there were restrictions on the use of weapons in the residential area.
A witness, Alina, said the bear wouldn’t let go of its victim and dragged her across the river. Meanwhile, another camper said her sister was confronted by the same bear that night and only managed to escape after a driver intervened using his vehicle’s headlights.
The 29-year-old’s remains were later found at the site where the animal is believed to have buried her. According to local reports, the bear escaped after the attack.
Following the incident, a 10-day state of emergency was declared in the village. Residents have raised concerns about the increasing number of bears in the area. A representative of the local hunters and fishermen association claimed that the shortening of the hunting season has contributed to the increase in the bear population and their approach to residential areas.
According to residents, about 20 bears regularly roam the area around the village./vizionplus.tv