A young woman was killed by an Asian elephant at a sanctuary in Thailand on Friday during a bathing session gone wrong, according to officials.

Spanish citizen Blanca Ojanguren, 22, was visiting Koh Yao Elephant Care on Yao Yai Island with her boyfriend at the time of the incident, Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported over the weekend. She studied law at the University of Navarra at the time.

Koh Yao Elephant Care told the Spanish outlet that a 50-year-old elephant pushed Ojanguren with its trunk while she bathed it, causing a fatal blow. Around 18 people were at the sanctuary at the time, including the victim's boyfriend.

The tourist was rushed to a local hospital where she later died, the sanctuary owner said. The business temporarily closed as a result.

'INCREDIBLY SOCIAL': RESEARCHERS MAKE STUNNING FIND ON HOW AFRICAN ELEPHANTS INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER

Experts told Argentine newspaper Clarin that the elephant was likely stressed from interacting with tourists outside its natural habitat, but officials have not released details about what led up to the attack. 

Koh Yao Elephant Care offers tourist packages ranging from $50 to $85 USD, according to its booking website. The company offered two-hour sessions with elephants that included activities ranging from cooking classes to kayak sessions. 

"Visitors often have the opportunity to join guided tours led by knowledgeable staff who educate guests about elephant behavior, biology, and the sanctuary's mission," the website reads. "This experience allows for a close encounter with these magnificent animals while respecting their well-being."

Elephants, which are profoundly gentle and intelligent animals, are known to occasionally kill humans when under physical and psychological distress. In 2022, an Asian elephant ripped its trainer in half with its tusk in Thailand's Phang Nga province.

Officials later discovered that the elephant's handler had it haul wood to a rubber plantation in hot weather, causing the animal to become overwhelmed.

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At the time, Save the Asian Elephants CEO Duncan McNair told Newsweek that elephants are sensitive to abuse and can become stressed by human behavior.

"[It] is yet another stark reminder that Asian elephants are, and always remain, wild animals that can attack and kill when they are abused or overly stressed by humans," McNair said.

At zoos in the United States, visitors and most staff members are usually prohibited from touching elephants. But elephant sanctuaries in Thailand lure tourists with promises of up-close interactions with the animals.

According to the Global Federal of Animal Sanctuaries, the quality of animal sanctuaries, including elephant sanctuaries, varies widely.

"It is a poorly regulated industry, in which facilities that keep animals in deplorable conditions can identify themselves as compared to those of the highest quality," the site reads. "For anyone invested in the welfare of captive animals, there is a need to differentiate the best sanctuaries and rescues to determine where funds would be best invested, where the need for help is greatest, who provides a model to follow and who can be turned to in times of crisis."

Koh Yao Elephant Care did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Fox News Digital reached out to wildlife experts for more information.

A South Korean court on Tuesday approved an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been impeached and suspended from power over his decision to impose martial law on Dec. 3, investigating authorities said.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials confirmed the Seoul Western District Court approved the warrant.

SOUTH KOREA DEADLY PLANE CRASH: US SENDS INVESTIGATORS TO COUNTRY STILL REELING FROM DISASTER THAT KILLED 179

This is the first ever arrest warrant issued for an incumbent president in South Korea, according to local media.

On Monday, South Korean investigators sought an arrest warrant for Yoon over this month's short-lived imposition of martial law.

Yoon is facing a criminal investigation into possible insurrection charges.

The court declined to comment. 

The moment a Jeju Air flight skidded off a runway before crashing into a concrete barrier and bursting into flames at an airport in South Korea was caught on camera.

The crash on Sunday killed 179 people on board. Only two survived, a man and a woman who were both crew members. 

Footage aired by South Korean television channels showed the plane skidding — and apparently without its landing gear deployed. The jet overran the runway and hit a barrier, triggering a fiery explosion. Footage showed thick plumes of smoke billowing from the plane, which was engulfed in flames. 

The plane involved was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 passenger jet. It was arriving from Bangkok when the crash happened at 9:03 a.m. local time near the town of Muan, which is about 180 miles south of Seoul. 

PLANE VEERS OFF AIRPORT RUNWAY IN SOUTH KOREA AND CRASHES, KILLING 179: REPORTS

Kyle Bailey, former a FAA safety team representative in the U.S., told Fox News that it appeared to him that the aircraft was traveling too fast as it skidded on the runway before striking what he believed was a structure that housed instrument landing equipment.

"I think that’s pretty much what spelled disaster for that airplane," he said.

Flight data and cockpit voice recorders of the plane's black box have been retrieved by workers. They will be examined by government experts investigating the cause of the crash and fire, Senior Transport Ministry official Joo Jong-wan said.

RUSSIA BEING BLAMED FOR AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES PLANE THAT CRASHED HUNDREDS OF MILES OFF COURSE, KILLING DOZENS

While it will likely take months to determine the cause of the crash, Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, said workers were looking into various possibilities, including whether the aircraft was struck by birds.

President Biden issued a statement about the crash on Sunday, offering assistance from the U.S., if necessary.

KAZAKHSTAN PLANE CRASH SURVIVORS SAY THEY HEARD BANGS BEFORE AIRCRAFT WENT DOWN; PUTIN ISSUES STATEMENT

"Jill and I are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life that occurred as a result of the Jeju Airlines accident in Muan, Republic of Korea," Biden said. "As close allies, the American people share deep bonds of friendship with the South Korean people and our thoughts and prayers are with those impacted by this tragedy. The United States stands ready to provide any necessary assistance."

Transport Ministry officials said the airport control tower had issued a bird strike warning to the plane shortly before it intended to land and had given its pilot permission to land in a different area.

The plane was destroyed with the tail assembly being the only recognizable part among the wreckage, the fire chief told a televised briefing.

Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Chris Pandolfo and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Russia of executing an "absurd" cover-up after its air defenses allegedly "shot down" a passenger plane last week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the "tragic incident" this weekend, but the Kremlin has not formally stated that Russian air defenses shot down the plane. At least 38 people were killed in the incident.

"Our plane was shot down by accident," Aliyev told state television on Sunday. "Unfortunately, in the first three days we heard only absurd versions from Russia."

"We witnessed clear attempts to cover up the matter," he added.

AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES BLAMES DEADLY PLANE CRASH ON 'EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE' AS RUSSIA SPECULATION GROWS

A Kremlin statement said the incident occurred after Russian air defenses engaged with Ukrainian attack drones, but did not outright state that Russian forces had shot down the plane.

IT'S ‘VERY UNCLEAR’ WHAT HAPPENED IN AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES CRASH, EX-STATE DEPT OFFICIAL SAYS

Aliyev is a close ally with Putin's regime, and the pair held a phone call regarding the incident on Sunday. Neither party has released details of their conversation.

 Crew members and survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190-passenger jet say they heard at least one loud bang before the aircraft crashed on Christmas day.

AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES BLAMES DEADLY PLANE CRASH ON 'EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE' AS RUSSIA SPECULATION GROWS

Subhonkul Rakhimov, one of the passengers aboard Flight J2-8243, told Reuters from the hospital that he had begun to recite prayers and prepare for the end after hearing a bang.

"After the bang... I thought the plane was going to fall apart," Rakhimov told the outlet. "It was obvious that the plane had been damaged in some way. It was as if it was drunk - not the same plane anymore."

Surviving passenger Vafa Shabanova said that there were "two explosions in the sky, and an hour and a half later the plane crashed to the ground."

Reuters contributed to this report. 

Witnesses to a deadly plane crash in South Korea on Sunday said they observed flames in the engine of the aircraft and heard explosions, according to a report.

A Jeju Air flight skidded off a runway at Muan International Airport in the town of Muan, roughly 190 miles south of Seoul, and collided with a concrete fence, killing at least 176 people, the Associated Press reported, citing the country's National Fire Agency (NFA).

Authorities are investigating a potential landing gear failure stemming from a bird strike that may have caused the crash, according to Yonhap News Agency. 

Videos show the plane attempting to land without its landing gear deployed.

PLANE VEERS OFF AIRPORT RUNWAY IN SOUTH KOREA AND CRASHES, KILLING AT LEAST 176: REPORTS

The flight was carrying 181 people when the collision happened at about 9:03 a.m. local time. Emergency workers pulled two crew members to safety who health officials say are conscious and not in life-threatening condition, while three people remained missing.

South Korea's Transport Ministry said the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet that was returning from Bangkok in Thailand.

"We are in contact with Jeju Air regarding flight 2216 and stand ready to support them," Boeing said in a statement. "We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew."

One witness, Yoo Jae-yong, 41, who was staying at a rental house near the airport, said he saw a spark on the plane's right wing before the incident, according to Yonhap News Agency.

"I was telling my family there was a problem with the plane when I heard a loud explosion," Yoo said.

Another witness, identified only by his last name, Cho, told the outlet he was taking a walk 4.5 kilometers, or about 2.8 miles, from the airport when the plane crashed into the concrete wall at the end of the runway.

"I saw the plane descending and thought it was about to land when I noticed a flash of light," Cho said. "Then there was a loud bang followed by smoke in the air, and then I heard a series of explosions."

Kim Yong-cheol, 70, said the plane was unable to land in the initial attempt and had to circle back around to try again before the crash occurred.

Kim said he heard the sound of "metallic scraping" twice about five minutes before the crash. He also said he looked up at the sky and observed the plane ascending after failing to land before he heard a "loud explosion" and noticed "black smoke billowing into the sky."

KAZAKHSTAN PLANE CRASH SURVIVORS SAY THEY HEARD BANGS BEFORE AIRCRAFT WENT DOWN; PUTIN ISSUES STATEMENT

A 50-year-old witness, identified by his last name, Jung, was fishing nearby when he says he observed a flock of birds colliding with the plane, which resulted in a fire in the right engine.

"As the plane was landing on the runway, it hit a flock of birds approaching from the opposite direction," he said. "I heard two or three bangs as if the birds had been sucked into the engine before I saw flames coming from the right engine."

Kerati Kijmanawat, the director of Airports of Thailand, said in a statement that the plane departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport with no reports of abnormal conditions with the aircraft or on the runway.

Jeju Air said in a statement it expresses its "deep apology" over the crash and that it will do its "utmost to manage the aftermath of the accident."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A Jeju Air flight skidded off a runway in South Korea and collided with a concrete fence, killing at least 177 people, the Associated Press reported, citing the country's National Fire Agency (NFA).

The Yonhap News Agency attributed the devastating crash, one of the worst in the country's history, to malfunctioning landing gear. 

Jeju Air, a low-cost airline in South Korea, was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members in the Boeing 737-800 when the incident occurred Sunday morning local time at Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Jeolla Province, roughly 180 miles south of Seoul.

At least 177 people — 84 women, 82 men and 11 others whose genders weren’t immediately identifiable — died in the fire, the fire agency said. 

KAZAKHSTAN PLANE CRASH SURVIVORS SAY THEY HEARD BANGS BEFORE AIRCRAFT WENT DOWN; PUTIN ISSUES STATEMENT

According to the NFA, emergency workers rescued two people, both crew members who were conscious. Three people remained missing about nine hours after the incident.

The plane landed at 9:07 a.m. local time at the airport when the incident happened. 

According to the Associated Press, the passenger plane slammed into a concrete fence on the runway after its front landing gear failed to deploy. 

The plane was flying back to South Korea from Thailand, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

Photos shared by local media showed smoke billowing out of the plane.

A senior Transport Ministry official said that the flight data recorder from the plane’s black box was retrieved and that crews were still searching for the cockpit voice recording device, according to the AP.

An Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people, was shot down by a Russian air defense system, Reuters reported Thursday.

The report cited four sources in Azerbaijan familiar with the investigation into the crash. One of the sources said preliminary results showed the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defense system, and its communications were paralyzed by electronic warfare systems on the approach into Grozny, Reuters reported. 

"No one claims that it was done on purpose," the source told Reuters. "However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft."

Officials in Russia and Kazakhstan have remained tight-lipped after the Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau with dozens of souls aboard.

RUSSIA BEING BLAMED FOR AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES PLANE THAT CRASHED HUNDREDS OF MILES OFF COURSE, KILLING DOZENS

A Ukrainian national security official has blamed Russian air defense fire for the deadly crash, which killed 38 people on Christmas Day. 

The Embraer 190 passenger jet flying from Azerbaijan to Russia had 62 passengers and five crew on board, according to Kazakh authorities. It had flown hundreds of miles off its scheduled route to crash on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea. Twenty-nine people survived. 

Video of the crash showed the plane descending rapidly before bursting into flames as it hit the seashore, and thick black smoke then rising, Reuters reported. 

Officials did not immediately explain why the plane had crossed the sea, but the crash came shortly after drone strikes hit southern Russia. Drone activity has shut down airports in the area in the past and the nearest Russian airport on the plane's flight path was closed on Wednesday morning.

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the cause of the crash is under investigation. He told reporters that "it would be wrong to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict," the Associated Press reported. 

Kazakhstan’s parliamentary Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev also warned against rushing to conclusions based on pictures of the plane’s fragments, describing the allegations of air defense fire as unfounded and "unethical."

Other officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have likewise declined to comment on the cause of the crash and pointed to the ongoing investigations for answers, according to the AP.

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Earlier, Ukrainian national security official Andriy Kovalenko blamed a "Russian air-defense system" for the crash in an X post on Wednesday.

"However, admitting this is inconvenient for everyone, so efforts will be made to cover it up, even the holes in the remaining parts of the aircraft," Kovalenko claimed. 

Aviation-security firm Osprey Flight Solutions also said the flight was "likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense sytem," the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday night.

"Video of the wreckage and the circumstances around the airspace security environment in southwest Russia indicates the possibility the aircraft was hit by some form of antiaircraft fire," Matt Borie, Osprey's chief intelligence officer, said in an interview.

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Russia's aviation watchdog, meanwhile, said it was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Azerbaijan observed a national day of mourning on Thursday for the 38 victims of the plane crash. National flags were lowered across the country, traffic stopped at noon and signals were sounded from ships and trains as the people observed a nationwide moment of silence, the AP reported.

"We will never forget the beloved people we lost in the crash of the ‘Embraer-190’ aircraft," Azerbaijan Airlines said in a statement Thursday. "This loss left a deep wound in the heart of an entire community. It reminds us to be more compassionate and connected to one another." 

"May the souls of those who tragically lost their lives rest in peace, and may their memory live on forever." 

A new carnivore has come to town — 165 million years ago at least. 

The Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus, a new species and genus of theropod dinosaur, has been discovered in Kyrgyzstan by an expedition team of German and Kyrgyz researchers, according to the Bavarian State Natural History Collections in Germany. 

Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus is the first theropod dinosaur found in Kyrgyzstan and the "find is one of the most significant in Central Asia," the institution said in a news release. 

Before the new species' discovery, no large Jurassic predatory dinosaurs had been known to live in the area around Kyrgyzstan between Central Europe and Eastern Asia, according to the institution. 

DINOSAUR-KILLING ASTEROID LIKELY CAME FROM BEYOND JUPITER, STUDY FINDS

The first fossils of Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus were uncovered in 2006 by Kyrgyz paleontologist Aizek Bakirov in a mountainous desert area of the country near the city of Tashkumyr.

Between 2006 and last year, more fossils, including skull bones, pelvic vertebrae and forearms, were found. 

The dinosaur is believed to be around 30 feet long.

"Particularly impressive is its extremely protruding ‘eyebrow’ on the so-called postorbital bone, a skull bone behind the eye-opening, which indicates the presence of a horn at this point," the institution said. "Other unique features are found on the dorsal vertebrae and the femur."

Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus and Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) were both theropods — although T. rex lived later during the Cretaceous period and in different parts of the world — dinosaurs who walked on strong back legs and had shorter front limbs. Modern-day birds evolved from theropods. 

NEWLY DISCOVERED DINOSAUR SPECIES IS ONLY GREEN FOSSIL EVER FOUND, TO BE DISPLAYED IN LA

Professor Oliver Rauhut of the Bavarian Collection of Paleontology and Geology in Munich, who was a first author of the study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, said in a statement: "This discovery closes a huge gap in our knowledge of the Jurassic theropods. It leads us to important new insights into the evolution and biogeography of these animals." 

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A smaller, juvenile Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus specimen was found at the site along with the adult dinosaur, leading researchers to believe it may have been a parent and child. 

Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus is named for a mythological Kyrgyz bird called Alpkarakush that often aids heroes in critical moments and for being found in the Kyrgyz Republic.