5-Year-Old European Girl Attacked While Camping in New Zealand
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A five-year-old girl visiting New Zealand from Europe with her family was recovering in hospital with head injuries Thursday after being attacked in a caravan at a campground as her parents used a nearby amenities block.
The girl -- whose nationality was not reported -- was attacked Wednesday night and was in serious but stable condition after undergoing surgery, the New Zealand Herald reported.
The incident took place at the Club Habitat holiday park in Turangi, near Lake Taupo in the center of the country's North Island, just hours after the family arrived at the campground.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police said the girl's mother returned to the caravan from the amenities block about 10:40pm to find the door locked and a man inside with her son and daughter.
She ran to get her husband and when they returned the man had fled, leaving the young girl lying in her bed with extensive injuries.
A police spokesman Detective Inspector Mark Loper said, "The fact that it is on a five-year-old tourist just days before Christmas makes [the attack] all the more appalling."