A mother and son who were killed by a Polar bear in a remote Alaskan village were unable to see the attack coming because of low visibility in a snowstorm, according to officials. Summer Myomick, 24, and her son Clyde Ongtowasruk were attacked by the animal as they attempted to walk from a school to a health clinic 150 yards (137 metres) away.
They made it as far as the front entrance of the school in Wales, Alaska when the Polar Bear camouflaged by the blizzard attacked them.
School officials rushed people into the building when the bear was spotted in the village just below the Arctic Circle.
The headteacher ordered a lockdown and closed the blinds so the children could not see the mauling unfold.
A number of employees and other community members risked their lives by leaving the building in an attempt to scare away the bear with shovels.
This temporarily stopped the attack as the animal turned on them and chased them back into the school.
Principal Dawn Hendrickson then slammed the door in the face of the charging bear.
Susan Nedza, chief administrator of the Bering Strait School District described the attack as “horrific”.
She said: “The polar bear was chasing them and tried to get in as well.
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The bodies of Ms Myomick and her son were flown to Nome for onward transportation to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage.
The whaling community of Wales is the western most point of the North American mainland and is only 50 miles from Russia across the Bering Strait.
It is only accessible by plane and boat, with household goods being delivered by barge.
