Nurse Pauline Stratton was on safari when she died

Colleagues of Pauline Stratton who were with her at the time gave evidence to Carlisle coroner Ian Morton on Thursday.

Mrs Stratton, 55, had gone to Malawi in April 2003 as part of a teaching exchange programme with hospitals there.

She was on a day-long safari break when the accident happened on 2 May 2003.

The inquest heard that on a day off from teaching, she had gone on an organised game walk in the Liwonde national park with two colleagues, some holiday makers, and a guide.

They had walked from their lodge into a wooded area after their car broke down, when a herd of elephants approached them.

Mrs Stratton's fellow staff nurse Helen Telford told the inquest they were running away from one elephant when she became certain Mrs Stratton had tripped and fallen.

Recording a verdict of misadventure the coroner, called it a most extraordinary accident made even more poignant by the fact that Pauline Stratton was not even on holiday.