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A US tourist from New Mexico was killed by an elephant during a safari drive in Zambia on Wednesday.

She was attacked by one of the elephants after her group stopped near the Maramba Cultural Bridge in Livingstone due to traffic caused by a herd, a police official told national broadcaster ZNBC.

Initially, officials said the animal pulled Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, out of the vehicle and trampled her.

But this account was later disputed by the Livingstone Tourism Association, which said the group were only attacked after leaving their vehicle - which it described as a breach of national park regulations.

The association said an attack like the one initially described by a police official had never been reported "anywhere in Africa or Asia".

This marks the second fatal elephant attack on a US tourist in the southern African country this year.

Gail Mattson, a 79-year-old woman from Minnesota, was killed during a game drive in Zambia's Kafue National Park.

During the March incident, an elephant charged the truck, flipped it over, killed Ms Mattson and injured five others.

Rona Wells, Ms Mattson's daughter, wrote on Facebook that her mother died in a "tragic accident while on her dream adventure".

Video of the attack later went viral and showed an elephant charging towards the vehicle. None of the vehicle passengers are seen in the video, but someone can be heard saying "oh my goodness," and "it's coming fast".

The vehicle stops to presumably attempt to stave off the elephant, but the animal hooks its tusk onto the vehicle and it rolls several times.

Zambian authorities have called on tourists to exercise extreme caution while observing wildlife around the country.

Zambia's neighbours Zimbabwe and Botswana have also raised concern about increasing elephant populations in their respective countries.

Zimbabwe has recorded deadly elephant attacks in recent years.

Update, 14 August 2024: This article originally reported that a police official had told the Zambian national broadcaster ZNBC that Juliana Gle Tourneau was pulled from her vehicle by an elephant and trampled. The Livingstone Tourist Association subsequently issued a statement criticising this version of events as inaccurate and explaining that the death had occurred after tourists had left their vehicle in breach of National Park regulations. The statement also said that an attack like the one initially described by a police official has never been reported "anywhere in Africa or Asia".