A teenager was killed by a bear while on a mountain hike.
Maria Diana was found dead at the bottom of a ravine.
The 19-year-old was hiking with her boyfriend when the beast emerged from the trees and started following them.
READ MORE: Heartbreaking moment young mum hold’s deceased baby for one last cuddle
She made an emergency call as it approached them on Tuesday (9 Jul).
The call handler told her to drop her rucksack and move away.
But he could only listen on in horror as the beast attacked the screaming teen before the line went dead.
Maria’s boyfriend then made another emergency call.
He frantically told how the bear had dragged her for tens of metres by her leg before tossing her into a ravine.
When first responders arrived on the scene in Romania’s Bucegi Mountains, he was in a state of shock.
He later told local media: “I tried to scare the bear. I did everything I could to save her.”
Maria was found dead at the bottom of a 394ft (120m) drop with the bear beside her.
A gamekeeper was called to the scene to shoot the animal due to its “abnormal predatory behaviour”.
An involuntary manslaughter case has been opened in connection with Maria’s death.
And another case has been opened in connection with the killing of the bear – a female around six-years-old.
Maria was from Cârlig, a village in Iaşi County, but was living with her mother in Bucharest.
She had finished school in June and loved the mountains and photography.
It wasn’t the first time she’d been pursued by a bear, as reported on Need To Know.
Her devastated mum told local media: “I was worried about this mountain.
“I called her and told her to be careful. I begged her.
“From what I found out from her father, since she didn’t tell me, she was once chased by a bear with a friend.”
It’s believed the recent uptick in human-bear encounters in the Bucegi Mountains is down to littering.
Experts warn that if you come face to face with a bear, you shouldn’t run or try to climb a tree.
Instead, you should remain calm and speak to it so that it knows you’re human, then slowly back away without turning around.
If you have a backpack with food inside, you should drop it.
In the event of an attack, you should try to get in the foetal position with your hands clasped behind your neck and remain still until the bear leaves.
Carry bear spray if hiking in the mountains.
Vets will perform tests on the bear that killed Maria to see if its aggressive behaviour was caused by rabies.
It comes after Scot Moira Gallacher, 72, was attacked by a bear in Romania, in April
READ MORE: Horror moment boy falls from escalator while playing with pal
