Beijing court begins tiger attack hearing

BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- A court in Beijing Tuesday began a long-awaited hearing into whether a wildlife park was responsible for a tiger attack that killed one person and injured another.

The attack occurred on July 23, 2016 at Beijing Badaling Wildlife Park in Yanqing District.

CCTV footage showed a woman getting out of a car to walk to the driver's side when a tiger pounced on her and dragged her away. The woman's mother, hurrying out of the car to save her daughter, was also attacked.

The mother died, and her daughter was seriously injured.

The three plaintiffs -- daughter, husband and father of the deceased -- said the "self-driving tour" provided by the park was flawed in design and therefore illegal. The tragedy should be attributed to a lack of contingency plans and effective rescue measures on the part of the defendant.

The plaintiffs are claiming 1.49 million yuan (230,000 U.S. dollars) in compensation for the family of the dead, and another 690,000 yuan for the injured.

Based on an official investigation report conducted by the district government that said no misconduct had been found by the park, the defendant said it had fulfilled obligations of warning, adequate rescue and paid for the initial medical and accommodation fees on humanitarian grounds.

The verdict will be announced at a later date. Enditem