A wild boar attacked children and staff at a child care facility and another man nearby in Hyogo Prefecture on Tuesday, injuring a total of six people.
According to the Hyogo Prefectural Police's Shikama station, a staff member at a certified child care facility in Imajuku, Himeji City, called the police at around 5:40 p.m. to report a wild boar assault. The incident unfolded as a mother was picking up her children.
When the mother and her two sons, age 3 and 5, stepped outside the facility’s gate, the boar suddenly charged at the 3-year-old. It rammed into the boy, biting him, before attacking a 24-year-old female child care worker who attempted to intervene.
The boar then attacked the 5-year-old boy, who had been fleeing to a nearby parking lot, as well as a 9-year-old cousin of the siblings and a 60-year-old child care worker who came to help. The 3-year-old sustained serious injuries, including fractures to his left hand and arm, and was taken to hospital.
The other four victims suffered minor injuries such as bites to the knee and bruising.
About 10 minutes before the incident at the child care facility, the same boar attacked a 67-year-old man on a sidewalk around 700 meters away from the facility, causing him to fall and sustain minor injuries.
The wild boar, measuring about 120 centimeters in length, was later found collapsed on a sidewalk 250 meters south of the facility. It was captured and euthanized by a local hunting association.
The police are investigating the circumstances of these incidents.
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