MADRID (AP) Authorities in Spains northern Cantabria region are investigating how an elephant killed a worker at a local zoo.

The Cantabrian regional government says 44-year-old Joaqun Gutirrez died in a hospital on Tuesday, several hours after a female elephant struck him with its trunk while he was cleaning its enclosure at the Cabrceno Nature Park near Santander.

The blow knocked Gutirrez back and he hit his head against the pens bars, officials said.

Gutirrez had been working with elephants at the zoo for almost 20 years, local tourism chief Javier Lpez Marcano said in a statement on the regional governments website.

The elephant that struck him had a foot infection and is likely pregnant, Marcano said. She weighs more than 4 metric tons (4.4 tons) .

Zoo and regional officials could not immediately be contacted Friday.

Police and CANTUR, the regional tourism organization that runs Cabrceno, are investigating the attack.