Tiger kills woman working at Chilean safari park

A youngwomanworkingat aChileansafariparkdied on Friday after atigerattacked her, police said.

Thewoman, who has not been identified by police, was among staff cleaning and performing maintenance work in the big cats' enclosure of asafariparkin the city of Rancagua, 60 milessouth of the capital Santiago.

Visitors drive through thesafarifeature, where animals can move freely. When staff areworkingin the area, animals are confined in enclosures.

Thewomanwho died suffered neck wounds in thetigerattack, authorities said.

Williams Espinoza of the Rancagua police said thewoman's ordeal was brief. "She did not realize that the door of the animal's cage was open and was immediately attacked by thistiger, causing her death on the spot," he said.

Thesafariparkwas closed while police investigated. Jorge Mena, from the regional public prosecutor's office, said they would be investigating possible third-party culpability for what happened.

The RancaguaSafariParkdid not respond to a request for comment. The condition of thetigerwas not known.