A polar bear attacked and killed a woman and a boy in a remote western Alaska village, state troopers said on Wednesday.
The victims were identified as 24-year-old Summer Myomick and her 1-year-old son Clyde Ongtowasruk, Alaska State Troopers said in a dispatch report update shared by the Alaska Department Of Public Safety on Wednesday.
Alaska State Troopers received a report of a polar bear attack in Wales at around 2:30pm on Tuesday, per an initial dispatch report. The report claimed that a polar bear “entered the community and had chased multiple residents” before fatally attacking “an adult female and juvenile male.
The troopers noted that the polar bear was shot and killed by a local resident as it attacked the pair.
In an update on Wednesday, Alaska State Troopers said that “poor weather conditions in the region and the lack of runway lights in Wales prevented Troopers and Alaska Department of Fish and Game personnel from making it to Wales.” They added that their efforts to fly to Wales continued.
The update also identified the two victims and confirmed that their next of kin had been notified.
Fatal polar bear attacks are extremely rare in Alaska, according to the Anchorage Daily News. In 1990, a polar bear killed a man in the North Slope village of Point Lay. Later it was established that the bear was starving. Polar bear males can grow to be up to 1,200 pounds, and females up to 700 pounds.
