Woman killed by bear in Polish forest, son and local government say

In an extremely rare fatal encounter, the 58-year-old was killed as she was walking in a mountainous area, her son told rescuers. Woman killed by bear in Polish forest, son and local government say Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Most of Poland's brown bears live in the south-eastern Bieszczady region (file picture) Brown bear in Poland's Bieszczady region, with greenery in the background A 58-year-old woman has been killed by a bear in a remote mountainous area in Poland, according to her son and the local government. The incident took place when the woman and her 27-year-old son were walking separately in a forest near the town of Płonna in the south-eastern Bieszczady region. A firefighter at the scene told news channel TVN24 that according to the woman's son, he was on the phone to her when he heard her scream, "Bear, bear!" and the phone went dead. The son raised the alert but by the time emergency services arrived the woman was dead. The firefighter said the woman had "lacerated and extensive" head injuries. Bukowsko Commune urged people in the area to refrain from entering nearby forest areas "due to the fatal bear attack on a woman in Płonna" in a social media post. Poland is home to around 100 brown bears, with most living in Bieszczady. Deadly encounters between humans and the animals are extremely rare. The last recorded deadly attack in Poland took place in 2014, according to local media. Paweł Giba, a spokesman for the local emergency services, said firefighters received the call from the son around 10:30 local time (08:30 GMT). Fire crews and police were dispatched but access to the site was hampered by difficult terrain and a lack of phone reception. A local police officer, Sgt Anna Oleniacz, told Polish news website Onet: "Just as the bear attacked the 58-year-old woman, her 27-year-old companion had stepped away for a moment. When he returned and saw that she was injured, he called for help." The victim's second son told TVN24: "She must have stepped on it. When a bear lies down, it's like a mound of dark earth. Once it hits, there's no escape." A prosecutor and a doctor were at the scene on Thursday afternoon. Izabela Jurkowska-Hanus, the district prosecutor in Sanok, which covers Bukowsko Commune, told TVN24 that as of that time, there were no other circumstances that suggest a cause of death other than the one reported. According to reports, the mother and son were in the woods collecting antlers during the stag shedding season. Wojciech Jankowski, a spokesman for the Lesko Forest District where the attack occurred, told Onet: "At this time of year, bears that have awakened from their winter sleep come to places like this, close to human homes, in search of food. This was an unexpected encounter for both the bear and the human." File image of a brown bear walking in a field Slovakia backs plan to shoot 350 bears after man killed in attack A Japanese Brown bear walking on a road in Hokkaido Japan plans to hire hunters as bear attacks rise A black bear in Albany, New York, climbed a tree in a residential neighbourhood and was tranquillised before falling into a net held by wildlife and law enforcement officials. Video went viral after investigators determined the purported ursine was actually a man in a costume. Decommissioned hoses from a fire service prove to be a paw-some addition to enclosures at a zoo. Erin Medcalf wins an "incredibly close competition" after a series of events across Europe. The World Cup includes 48 nations, but there are still a number of top players who have missed out on qualification. Archaeologist Alexander Butyagin is accused of conducting illegal excavations in Crimea - Ukraine's peninsula annexed by Russia. The parcel plot is one of a wave of sabotage attacks across Europe which officials have linked to Russia. Aleksandr Suranovas, charged with carrying out an act of terrorism for Russia, speaks to the BBC.