An Indian white tiger has attacked and killed a teenager at Delhi zoo, officials and witnesses say.

According to zoo manager Riaz Khan, the young man “leapt over the railing into the tiger enclosure”. Initial reports described him as a schoolboy.

Television pictures showed the student crouching against a wall while the tiger stood near him.

An eyewitness said he was leaning over the barricade which was “very low” and may have fallen inside the enclosure.

“Around 1.30 pm, we were in the reptiles area when we heard loud screams,” eyewitness Himanshu told CNN-IBN news channel.

White tigers are a rare variant of the customary orange Bengal sub-species (photo Wikipedia)

“I ran to the tiger enclosure where we saw that a white tiger had caught the student by his neck and he was writhing in pain. Some children threw small sticks and stones at the tiger.

“He suffered for the next 10-15 minutes but nobody helped him.”

Himanshu said the police “came very quickly”, but could not save him.

White tigers are a rare variant of the customary orange Bengal sub-species.

Considered an endangered species, they are found in south and east Asia, particularly India, and owe their color to a recessive gene.

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