The remains of a teenager who had been missing for two days have been found in the lions’ enclosure at a safari park in Pakistan, officials said.
The skull and bones of 18-year-old Muhammad Bilal were discovered when staff went to feed the animals on Wednesday, Lahore Safari Park deputy director-general Chaudhry Shafqat said.
His family later ransacked parts of the attraction to protest what they said was incompetence by park authorities, police said.
Members of Bilal’s family declined to comment at the park, too upset to speak to reporters.
Shafqat said that the park had “more than enough safety measures in place,” questioning whether Bilal had been killed before his body ended up in the enclosure.
“We are still wondering how he crossed the protective fence, which is quite high, and entered the lions’ field,” he said, adding that the young man had been missing for two days.
“I think the police will also investigate whether the man himself climbed the fence and went inside or someone threw his dead body inside for the lions to eat,” he said.
He said Bilal’s family told him and the police that Bilal had gone to the park to see one of his uncles who worked there.
Bilal’s family and neighbors attacked offices at the attraction, smashed windows and damaged vehicles, police official Najeeb Awan said, adding that they also blocked a highway and demanded that the government initiate criminal proceedings against the park’s management.
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