Three lions killed two security guards at a game farm near Virginia in the Free State on Wednesday, police said.
Captain Rosa Benade said the two men — one aged 36 and the other 70 — worked as security guards at the farm, which is situated 7km from Hennenman.
She said police were still investigating how the three lions got out. The two men were killed at about 7.30am on Wednesday.
An inquest docket had been opened, she said.
An official of the Free State department of environment said it seemed that the lions ”escaped from the enclosure after there was a break in the electrical wires of the enclosure.
”The owner of the lions has shot and killed all three — two females and one male — after the incident,” the official told Sapa. — Sapa