Mum Helen Clements and her two children have spoken of how they had to flee their burning car in the middle of the lion enclosure at a wildlife park.
The 43-year-old, daughter Charlie, 12, and son George, nine, were enjoying a trip to Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire, when smoke started to emerge from their vehicle.
“The flames came out of the car and was obviously coming into the car, we then thought we better get out of the car but obviously the rangers were saying ‘get back in the car,’ obviously for the safety reasons, so it was very difficult to know what to do,” Clements said.
The rangers at the safari raced to save the family.
“There’s always a ranger with their eye on the animals and a ranger there to assist the family. That training kicked into action and all worked well, so the first ranger stayed close by the lions whilst the second ranger was able to relatively freely get the family out of the vehicle,” Alex Lloyd of the Longleast Safari Park said.
No one was hurt in the rescue.
“We’re all safe and I think that’s the way you’ve got to look at it, and you can look back on it now and… ‘thank goodness we’re all safe’ by why did it have to be in the lion enclosure, of all places?” Clements asked.
Agencies/Canadajournal
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