A Japanese embassy worker died after she was attacked by a pride of lions at a park near Zimbabwe?s capital Harare, state media reported yesterday. The woman, who was not named, had visited the popular Lion and Cheetah Park, 20 km west of the capital, with five embassy colleagues.

She entered a lion enclosure with a guide and a colleague. ?One of the lions suddenly attacked the woman as she was about to leave the lion?s pen?, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena told the state-owned Sunday Mail. ?Other lions, whose number we were not given, also went for the helpless woman and joined in the attack.?

The group managed to drive off the lions with stones, but the woman later died from her injuries at a local hospital. There was no immediate comment from the Japanese embassy but the paper said an official inquiry was expected.