A woman and a young boy in a remote village in far western Alaska were killed by a polar bear Tuesday, state troopers report.
Alaska State Troopers said they received the report of the attack at 2:30 p.m. yesterday in Wales, on the western tip of the Seward Peninsula, KTUU reported.
“Initial reports indicate that a polar bear had entered the community and had chased multiple residents,” police said in a statement on the deadly rampage.
AP reports the bear was shot and killed by a local resident as it attacked the pair, troopers said.
The names of the the two people killed have not been disclosed. Troopers said they were working to notify family members.
Wales is a small, predominantly Inupiaq town of about 150 people, some 100 miles northwest of Nome.
Fatal polar bear attacks have been rare in Alaska’s recent history.
According to Canadian NGO Polar Bears International, only 20 people worldwide are known to have been taken by polar bears between 1870 and 2014, though the frequency of attacks is increasing.
In 1990, a polar bear killed a man farther north of Wales in the village of Point Lay. Biologists later said the animal showed signs of starvation, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Some Arctic communities employ polar bear patrols to protect residents from the animals, though one was not currently in operation in Wales, the News made clear.
AP, AFP contributed to this story