Rhino kills zookeeper in horror attack as another left seriously injured

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A zookeeper has died after being attacked by a rhino, police have said.

A second person was also injured in the incident at the Hellbrunn zoo in the western Austrian city of Salzburg.

The fatality is understood to have occurred following routine work being carried out at the zoo.

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Police noted that a 33-year-old was a victim in the attack that happened, "for reasons that are still unknown."

A spokesperson for the force added that: "The woman succumbed to her injuries at the scene of the accident".

A second keeper, a 34-year-old man, was also seriously injured by the same rhino when he tried to scare the beast away.

He was taken to the hospital with the zoo saying it would remain closed on Tuesday (September 12).

According to the Salzburg tourism board, the Hellburn Zoo " is home to 150 species with around 1,500 animals. From the pygmy mouse to the white rhinoceros, there are creatures of various sizes from all parts of the world."

The attack is understood to have occurred at around 7am according to the Austrian news agency APA.

The deceased is reported by German outlet BILD to have been a German national.

Austrian news site oe24 reported that people were in a "state of shock".

Rhinos, which can weight up to 3.5 tonnes, are not normally aggressive to humans and rarely get close, although different types of rhinos have different behaviour patterns when threatened.