Tragic killer whale accident at Shamu Stadium kills SeaWorld employee

(This is a developing story)

A SeaWorld employee died this afternoon when she was grabbed by one of the whales at the start of a public show.

According to a park guest, the trainer had just finished explaining the show when a killer whale popped up out of the water and grabbed her.

The whale thrashed her around, at which point the sirens went off in the stadium forcing all guests to be evacuated. The trainer was pronounced dead by rescue personnel, but no more information has been released by SeaWorld.

Update: According to a breaking news source on Twitter, the whale in question is Tilikum (Tilly), the world’s largest whale in captivity. If correct, this would be the third time Tillikum has killed a human.

Update 2: All shows at Shamu stadium have been canceled for today.

(Image from: IONU/X17online.com)