An afternoon encounter with wildlife at the Suncor Energy Oil Sands base plant has claimed the life of one Suncor employee.
According to officials with Suncor Energy, a bear attacked a female employee Wednesday afternoon near the plant, located approximately 25 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. The employee’s injuries proved fatal and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Bruce Harrison with Occupational Health & Safety says the attack occurred at approximately 3:30 p.m. and it is not known if the employee was working alone when she encountered the male black bear.
RCMP and Fish and Wildlife officers responded to the plant, located the bear and terminated the animal.
"We are shocked by this very unusual incident and there are no words to express the tragedy of this situation. Our thoughts and prayers go out to family, friends and co-workers," said Mark Little, Suncor executive vice president, Upstream. "All of us need to focus on personal safety and I would urge everyone to be extremely vigilant in dealing with wildlife."
The identity of the deceased has not been released.
An investigation into the bear attack is underway.
