British tourist killed by elephant in front of daughter, 16, on Koh Samui in Thailand

A British tourist has been killed by an elephant in front of his teenage daughter in Thailand.

The man, 36-year-old Gareth Crowe, was trekking on the elephant with his 16-year-old daughter, Eilidh Hughes, and a local guide on the tropical island of Koh Samui when it turned violent.

Witnesses said the mahout - the elephant's handler - climbed down to take photos of the tourists, believed to be from Scotland, when it hit him with its trunk and stabbed him in his body with a tusk.

The elephant is then said to have rampaged, throwing the father and daughter off his back before trampling the man and stabbing him in the chest with a tusk, killing him instantly.

The teenage girl escaped with minor injuries in the fall as the elephant ran off into the forest.

Mr Crowe was on the holiday island with his partner Catherine, mother to Eilidh and her brother, whose name is believed to be Mark.

Mr Crowe's partner, Catherine Hughes, 42, spoke from the Bangkok Hospital on Koh Samui where her Eilidh was recovering from her injuries.

• Why did the Ko Samui elephant attack?

She said: "My head's all over the place. We were all here on holiday. My son and I didn't go on the elephants. I've been given no information as to what happened or how it happened.

"Eilidh is ok but I don't know exactly what happened."

Asked about Thai website reports that the elephant was being teased with a banana - reports which Eilidh has refuted on social media - Catherine said: "I've seen some report on a local newspaper but I don't know if it's true or not true. All I know is what I've been told from Eilidh.

"It's just myself my son and Eilidh here. I've not been in touch with the British Embassy yet, I don't know whether I'm coming or going. Right now I need Eilidh to rest."

Writing from her hospital bed, Eilidh hit out at another local report suggesting the elephant was being teased with a banana by her father before it became unsettled and attacked.

She said on a Thai newspaper website: "He was not teasing the elephant as I was his 16-year-old daughter who is lying in hospital and I was on it.

"I know everything that happened. This is a serious situation!!!"

Eilidh and her family are originally from the Isle of Islay off the Argyll coast, but are believed to have moved to the Scottish mainland around two years ago.

The pair had been riding a male elephant called Golf, when their guide - named locally as Pamang - climbed down to photograph the family.

Witnesses said that in the moments leading up to the attack, Golf had appeared upset and was refusing to follow Pamang's instructions, causing him to hit the elephant with a stick until he obeyed.

Golf then attacked Pamang with its trunk before goring him in the chest with a tusk and rearing on its hind legs.

Eilidh and her father were thrown from its back and the elephant then stomped and gored the father before running into a nearby forest.

Witnesses said that just before the attack, the elephant - known as Golf - had appeared upset and refused to follow the instructions of the mahout who hit him several times with a hook.

The girl was initially treated at Samui International Hospital before being moved to Bangkok International Hospital on the island.

A hospital spokeswoman confirmed the teenager was being treated there for minor injuries.

The spokesman said the man's body had initially been taken to the hospital before being transferred to the Samui Government Hospital on the island.

The dead man and his daughter are understood to be from Scotland, but the Foreign Office said it had no information on the incident.

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• Why did the Ko Samui elephant attack?