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- The group was hiking through Russia's Ergaki national park when the attack occurred.
- Three companions of the deceased fled barefoot – and it took them seven hours to find safety.
- The park has been closed until November for safety reasons.
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As a group of hikers on a camping trip unpacked their belongings, one was attacked and killed by a brown bear in Russia.
The group was hiking in the popular Ergaki national park in southern central Russia when the tragedy occurred on July 27.
Krasnoyarsk regional news service reports that the men scaled a wall of rocks once they saw the "drooling" bear – but one man, Yevenggny Starkov, 42, lagged behind.
One of the survivors told the local news that they watched their friend get devoured before fleeing further into the forest after the bear caught sight of them.
The group walked for seven hours – barefoot through the wilderness without any equipment – before they reached safety and were able to inform authorities of the incident.
Ergaki National park has made a number of statements on their VK page - a Russian social media platform.
The administration confirmed the incident and announced that the park - aside from some specific trails - would be closed to visitors until November 1, 2021.
The Ministry of Ecology and the park administration apprehended the animal and killed it. Investigations are ongoing as to the circumstances of the event.
This is the second fatal bear incident in the national park this summer. A brown bear was shot in June after it killed a 16-year-old boy who was working as a sherpa.
A number of theories have been posited about why there has been a spike in bear attacks - one being that the bears are hungrier, as a result of a longer, snowier, and colder winter restricting their access to food.