A devastated grandmother shared photos of her young granddaughter in the hospital after a grizzly bear attacked her on a school trip in Canada.
The group of students and teachers were on a walk in Bella Coola, northwest of Vancouver, on Thursday when the bear attack took place.
At least 11 people were injured, including two who are in critical condition and two who are considered seriously injured.
Hzita Brown Mack confirmed on Facebook that her granddaughter is one of the victims.
‘My heart shattered to see what the bear had done to her little body,’ Mack wrote.
The grandmother posted photos of the young girl in the hospital and thanked the staff for preparing her for transfer to another medical facility.
‘She had approximately 100 stitches/sutures to close all her wounds so that she can be transferred safely,’ she wrote.
Veronica Schooner posted a photo of the mud-soaked shoes of her ten-year-old son, Alverez, who was in the elementary school class that was attacked.
‘Alverez grade 4/5 class got confronted by a grizzly today. I’m so glad Alvarez is ok. This is his shoes and he injured his ankle and had bear spray on his face,’ she wrote.
Schooner told The Canadian Press that her son was so close to the animal that ‘he even felt its fur’ and ‘he was running for his life’.
The mother said several people attempted to intervene during the ordeal, but one male teacher ‘got the whole brunt of it’ and was among the people taken by helicopter from the scene.
She added that Alverez was left ‘traumatized’ by the attack on his friends, and three children were among those with significant injuries. However, officials have not officially confirmed the ages of any of the victims.
‘He said that the bear ran so close to him, but it was going after somebody else,’ said Schooner.
‘Everybody was in shock at the school. A lot of people were crying, and I don’t know, I just wanted my son, and I grabbed him, and then I took him home.’
British Columbia Emergency Health Services (BCEMS) told CBC they received a call about an ‘animal attack’ on a trail near Highway 20 and sent two ambulances and a community paramedic to respond.
‘Paramedics provided emergency medical treatment to four patients and transported them to the hospital,’ health services spokesman Brian Twaites said.
The ages and genders of the injured students are currently unknown. Police corporal Madonna Saunderson described their injuries as ‘very serious at the very least’.
Acwsalcta School, an independent school in Bella Coola run by the Nuxalk Nation, said it will be closed on Friday due to the ‘bear incident’.
The school did not confirm whether its students were attacked, but wrote in a statement that it will offer counseling services, adding that ‘it’s hard to know what to say during this very difficult time.’
Nuxalk Nation wrote on social media Thursday night that the animal ‘has still not been found’ after warning of an ‘aggressive bear’ in the Four Mile subdivision, a forested and residential area in the Bella Coola Valley where Acwsalcta School is located.
‘The bear has still not been found, so we ask that you do not walk anywhere tonight,’ Nuxalk Nation wrote, while offering rides for those who need them.
Officials also urged people in the area to stay indoors, warning them not to go looking for the bear and to ‘not go down any trails’.
