Solar Eclipse Tourist Attacked By Polar Bear

A polar bear has attacked a tourist on an island where thousands of people are planning to watch the solar eclipse on Friday.

The victim - part of a group of six on a snowscooter and skiing tour - was flown by helicopter to hospital after the bear was shot dead.

The man suffered injuries to the face and arm but his life is not in danger, a police spokesman said.

The nationality of the injured man is not yet known.

Another member of the group was taken to hospital with frost-bite not linked to the attack on Svalbard, an Arctic island off Norway.

The Norwegian Arctic islands of Svalbard, about 800 miles (1,300 km) from the North Pole, and the Faroe Islands to the south, are the only places on land from which viewers will be able to see the moon totally block the sun.

A partial eclipse will be visible across parts of Africa, Europe and Asia , briefly disrupting production of solar power in Europe as the sun dims.

Svalbard has warned tourists of the risks of bears and of freezing temperatures, expected to be around -18C on Friday, with partly cloudy skies.

The archipelago, which has about 2,500 residents, is expecting some 2,000 visitors for the eclipse, while The Faroe Islands expect about 8,000 visitors to swell their population of 50,000.

"It is an ever-present danger," Ronny Brunvoll, head of the Visit Svalbard organisation, said of the risks of polar bear attack.

"Security is number one, two and three."

A bear killed British teenager Horatio Chapple , 17, on Svalbard in 2011, the most recent fatality.

On average, three bears a year are shot in self-defence by people on Svalbard.

Brunvoll told Reuters that the number of overnight visitors for the eclipse would be the highest in Longyearbyen's history - far above numbers who come for a popular Arctic ski marathon.

Hotels have been booked for years and many private homes have rented rooms.