Nordin Bin Montong, 32, a Malaysian working as a cleaner at the zoo, leapt into the moat of the white tiger exhibit and was attacked, said Biswajit Guha, assistant director of zoology at the Singapore Zoo in a statement.
The noise from the attack caught the attention of zookeepers nearby and they eventually managed to distract the tigers and rescue Nordin.
"Keepers managed to separate the worker from the tiger. While waiting for the ambulance, our vets attended to him," said Guha. "The worker tragically succumbed to his wound."
Singapore's Straits Times newspaper said on its website that Nordin was seen behaving in an agitated manner before he fell into the moat. Terrified visitors near the section watched the vicious attack in horror and screamed, the paper said.
White tigers are even rarer because they suffer from a genetic condition that strips their fur of the orange pigment, leaving the animal with snow white fur, black stripes and blue eyes.
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Tourist witnesses horrifying incident together with other shocked visitors
By Esther Tan
UNABLE TO HELP
'People were throwing things in to get (the tigers) away from the man. But it didn't work.'
Mr W. R. de Boer who managed to take pictures of the incident
FOR Dutchman W. R. de Boer, paying a visit to the Singapore Zoo yesterday was meant to be a relaxing book-end to a business trip. Instead, the 40-year-old witnessed one of the most horrifying things he has ever seen.
The software consultant, who arrived in Singapore two weeks ago, was among about 30 others who saw zoo cleaner Nordin Montong, 32, mauled to death by two white tigers yesterday afternoon. In an interview with The Straits Times, Mr de Boer said he was concentrating on taking pictures of the tigers, and only realised something was amiss when he heard others screaming.
'I turned and saw a man lying on the ground with a bucket over his head. He yelled and the tigers came towards him,' he recalled. 'I thought it was a show at first. But I knew it wasn't when the claws came out and there was blood.'
Mr de Boer said he saw one of the tigers hit the man with its paw and then attacked him.
'I couldn't see clearly whether the tiger attacked his back or his neck because he still had the bucket on his head,' he said.
By then, visitors standing around the enclosure were screaming for the tigers to go away. One of them even threw an umbrella in to distract the tigers, he noted. But it did not work.
'I was afraid for the man,' he said.
The screams of the onlookers alerted zookeepers, and they arrived shortly after.
From the viewing area, the keepers tried to use a pole to prod the tigers and distract them from Mr Nordin, but it was too short, and soon, one of the tigers pounced on the cleaner.
Mr de Boer also saw a keeper armed with a rifle, but no shots were fired. Despite the horror unfolding before him, he kept clicking away with his camera. He later provided The Straits Times with pictures of the attack. 'I don't know why I (took the photos). I wasn't thinking,' he said.
He took just a few pictures before keepers ushered him away and cordoned off the enclosure.
Yesterday, the zoo declined media requests to speak to the keepers involved in the incident.
The zoo's director of sales and marketing Isabel Cheng said that keepers involved in the incident were not in a position to speak to the media as they were traumatised by what had happened. They were receiving counselling from a psychologist.
Two other visitors to the zoo, an Australian couple, gave a similar account of what happened, said the zoo yesterday. The couple, whose identities were withheld by police, had video footage of the attack taken from them by police.
According to the zoo, they told police that they said they had earlier seen Mr Nordin shouting and throwing things as he walked by the crocodile enclosure, a short distance from the tiger enclosure.
Minutes later, as they arrived to view the white tigers, they heard a splash and looked down to see the Malaysian contract worker in the moat.
They told police it appeared that Mr Nordin had deliberately provoked the animals.
Contacted again last night, Mr de Boer, who leaves Singapore tomorrow, said he was overwhelmed by the day's events. 'It's not nice to see something like this on a holiday,' he said.
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November 15, 2008 18:13 PM Victim Of Tiger Attack Saving Money For Wedding
KUCHING, Nov 15 (Bernama) -- Contract worker Nordin Montong, who was killed after being mauled by three white tigers at the Singapore zoo on Thursday, had telephoned his family in Sarawak a day earlier to ask about his parents' condition.
His eldest sister, Nora, 34, said her brother last contacted the family on Wednesday, during which he also mentioned about wanting to return home in February next year after saving enough money to marry his girl friend.
She said Nordin, 32, the second of six siblings, went to Singapore to work as a contract worker in June after reading a job advertisement in the newspapers.
"There was nothing unusual with him when he called, except to ask about our parent's condition," she said when met at her house at Kampung Tabuan here Saturday.
Nordin's body arrived at the MasKargo terminal of the Kuching International Airport at about 3pm.
His father, Monton Sahom, 54, and mother, Baduyah Ahad, 50, as well as close relatives were at the airport to receive the body, which would be buried at the Muslim cemetery at Kampung Sambir here later Saturday.
Nordin was attacked by the tigers after he allegedly jumped into the moat at the white tiger exhibit at the zoo at about 12.15pm.
-- BERNAMA
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was it suicide? was he amok????
