Tourist , 42, eaten by a bear during trip in a Russian national park

Tourist, 42, is eaten by a bear in front of three horrified friends during a camping trip in a Russian national park

• Yevgeny Starkov, 42, was attacked and eaten by a bear at national park in Russia
• Three fellow campers watched in horror as their friend was torn and gnawed
• It occured around 6am in Yergaki Nature Park in Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia 

A camper was savagely attacked and eaten by a bear at a national park in Russia.

Tourist Yevgeny Starkov, 42, was with a group starting to pack away their tents when the bear pounced.

Three fellow campers watched in horror as their friend was torn and gnawed by the drooling beast.

They then fled, walking seven hours with no shoes to raise the alarm.

Tourist Yevgeny Starkov, 42, was with a group starting to pack away their tents when the bear pounced, attacking and eating him at a national park in Russia

Investigators cannot reach the scene by helicopter due to bad weather in the Yergaki Nature Park, in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia.

Anton Shelkunov, 42, told of the appalling 6am attack as the bear suddenly appeared just 20 ft away.

‘We had begun to pack our backpacks,’ he said.

‘There were two tents, and I turned my head to the left to see a bear sticking out its head, a giant one, with saliva dripping from its mouth.

Investigators cannot reach the scene by helicopter due to bad weather in the Yergaki Nature Park, in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia (Pictured: file photo)

‘The bear roared and ran at us.’

He and friends Yevgeny Dobrorodny, 33, and Pavel Zhemchugov, 32, fled in terror from the scene, escaping into a hollow.

But Starkov, a tourist from Moscow, was caught.

‘I looked back, the bear was chasing us,’ he said.

‘We climbed up, around 50 metres (165ft) and saw the place where our tents were picked.

‘We saw the body (of Starkov) and the bear standing there.

‘It was tearing his body, gnawing it.

‘Then it got distracted, began to look at us, so we climbed higher.’

 Anton Shelkunov, 42, told of the appalling 6am attack as the bear suddenly appeared just 20 ft away (Pictured: victim Starkov)

They looked down at Aradansky ridge and decided the only option was to walk barefooted some seven hours to safety, and to raise the alarm.

Park director Igor Gryazin, confirmed: ‘When packing away their tent they discovered a bear…

‘They all ran in different directions, and one of them…

‘An accident happened with the bear, with a deadly outcome.’

Yevgeny Dobrorodny (left), 33, and Pavel Zhemchugov (right), 32, fled in terror from the scene, escaping into a hollow

The park in the Sayan Mountains has been closed to most visitors after the tragedy.

Russian Investigative Committee spokesperson Yulia Arbuzova said: ‘The tourists themselves reported the attack.

‘The body has not yet been found.

‘It is a very inaccessible area.’

Wildlife supervisor Sergey Gushchin said: ‘Their hike was in hard-to-reach places in the area of the Nine Lakes of the Aradansky ridge.’

Heavy rain meant rescuers and investigators could not reach the scene.

The bear may have been attracted by the campers’ food, he said.

Source: Read Full Article