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ANIMAL

Man badly injured in bear attack

A man has been attacked by a bear in the woods outside Orsa in Dalarna in central Sweden.

The man was out clearing trees with two other men when the bear came towards him at lunchtime on Wednesday. The three men were working at a distance of around 100 metres from each other.

“We had the chainsaws on at full throttle and didn’t hear the actual attack,” the victim’s friend, Hans Skarp, told news agency TT.

“So I didn’t see the events unfold, I just saw him coming towards the path from the woods covered in blood.

“First I thought he had sawed his own head but then he said he’d been bitten by a bear. The left arm was worst. I took my belt and tied it around his arm to stop the bleeding,” Skarp added.

Despite being bitten on the arms, legs and head, the victim was able to make his own way to his car. His friend called emergency services. An ambulance was sent to collect the injured man at the village of Skattungbyn. He was taken to Falun Hospital.

According to the police, the victim retained consciousness throughout.

The victim told his friend that he had been attacked by a large bear.

“We think it was a female with babies that were still in hibernation,” said Skarp.

Police have decided that the animal is to be put down and have sent a team of hunters to the scene to track down and kill the bear.