A black bear killed a female Suncor Energy worker on the company's oil sands base camp region of the Canadian province of Alberta, a company spokeswoman said.
The 36-year-old woman was attacked by the large black bear in a busy part of the sprawling industrial complex, approximately 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) north of Fort McMurray, Reuters reported.
She was declared dead at the scene on Wednesday afternoon.
"We are shocked by this very unusual incident and there are no words to express the tragedy of this situation. Our thoughts and prayers go out to family, friends and co-workers," said Mark Little, Suncor executive vice president, in a statement.
"All of us need to focus on personal safety and I would urge everyone to be extremely vigilant in dealing with wildlife."
The incident was immediately reported to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Alberta Environmental and Sustainable Development.
The incident was immediately reported to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Alberta Environmental and Sustainable Development.
The bear, which had remained around the area, was killed after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police shot at it, the Guardian reported.
Like other bears, it was reported to have emerged from hibernation near the Suncor Energy Inc. oil sands mining operation.
An investigation was being carried out to figure out what had caused the bear to attack the employee, Suncor spokeswoman Sneh Seetal said.
"It's a major industrial site with lots of noise and activity. Other workers tried to intervene," she said.
According to Reuters, AESRD officers are in the process of installing traps and cameras and helping patrol the borders of the site, Seetal added.
A spokesman for Canadian Occupational Health and Safety said the attack was an unusual occurrence in the area.
"This is the first that I'm aware of having a worker either seriously injured or killed by a bear of any variety," Barrie Harrison told CBC News.
"We have a lot of different environments in this province of ours, we have lots of different types of wildlife," he added. "For the most part, companies are very good at understanding what the hazards are and having mechanisms in place to deal with those hazards."
This is the third employee death on Suncor's oil sands site this year, although the two other incidents have been work-related.
