Bhopal: A tourist bus carrying passengers was chased by a tiger in Nandanvan jungle safari in Raipur in Chhattisgarh, causing panic among the tourists.
Similar incident has also been reported from Kanha Tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh recently.
A video showing the tiger chasing the tourist bus in Nandanvan jungle safari on Monday went viral prompting the Chhattisgarh forest department to terminate services of driver of the bus and the guide.
The incident took place on Friday evening.
“Driver of the bus Om Prakash Bharti and guide Navin Purania were sacked from job in connection with the incident,” Nadnanvan jungle safari director Mercy Belle told the media on Monday.
According to official reports, the tourist bus was caught in the crossfire in the territorial fight of two tigers and one of the two big cats grabbed the window curtain of the bus in the process, causing panic among the tourists.
One of the tourists had asked the driver to speed off the bus to escape from the chasing tiger.
“The probe has found that the guide shot the video. The guide and the driver of the bus should have ensured safety of the tourists as well as the animals in the safari. Instead of speeding off the bus, the driver should have waited till the situation normalized. It is a clear violation of safety protocol by the two safari staff,” Belle said.
Another video showing a tiger attempting to attack an open jeep carrying tourists in Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh also surfaced on Monday.
The video showed the tiger suddenly appearing from a bush and advancing menacingly toward the tourists. The guide and the tourists were heard in the video clip shouting at the tiger leading the wild animal to return to the forest.
The incident purportedly took place in Sraban Tali area in Kanha on February 5.
However, when contacted, a spokesman of MP forest department could neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of the video.
“We have sent the video to the park officials to check its authenticity,” the forest officer said.
