Polar bear kills British boy in Arctic
Baku, August 4 (AZERTAC). A polar bear has mauled a 17-year-old British boy to death in the Arctic and injured four other UK tourists.
Horatio Chapple was one of 13, mainly aged 16 to 23, on British Schools Exploring Society trip near a glacier on the Norwegian island of Svalbard.
The four who were hurt - two severely - included two leaders of the trip. They were being flown to Tromsoe in Norway.
The Svalbard governor`s office said a group member shot the bear. All the victims` families have been told.
The rest of the group members are in shock, a spokeswoman said.
The attack, near the Von Post glacier about 25 miles (40km) from Longyearbyen, took place early on Friday.
The BSES, a youth development charity that organises scientific expeditions to remote areas and is based in Kensington, west London, has not yet named the 17-year-old boy.
It said the injured men were trip leaders Michael Reid and Andrew Ruck and trip members Patrick Flinders from Jersey, and Scott Smith.
They suffered head injuries but are now stable, Norwegian authorities said.
The father of Patrick Flinders, Terry, said he believed the polar bear had crossed a trip wire and into his son`s tent.
"According to the doctor and the other people Patrick was trying to fend off the polar bear by hitting it on the nose - why, I don`t know, but he did and... the polar bear attacked him with his right paw across his face and his head and his arm," he said.BSES chairman Edward Watson said the society had been in touch with the family of Mr Chapple and had offered "our utmost sympathy".
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