A tragic incident has gone viral after a 50-year-old man, Aqil Fakhr al-Din, was eaten by a pet lion, days after purchasing it to tame in Iraq.

According to Al-Ghad newspaper,as cited by Metro UK, the attack happened last Thursday in Kufa, Iraq, just days after al-Din brought the wild animal home.

Al-Din had housed the lion in a cage alongside other wild creatures on his property, hoping to domesticate it. But the situation turned deadly when the man was eaten by the lion.

A source told Al-Ghad: “The predator lunged at al-Din as he approached the enclosure, biting him in the neck and chest.”

The man’s screams alerted a neighbour, who rushed to his aid with a Kalashnikov rifle. Despite the lion’s ferocity, the neighbour managed to kill it after firing seven shots, Shafaq News Agency confirmed.

“Footage shared on social media shows the lion’s lifeless body lying in a pool of blood on the grass, with cages visible in the background of the garden,” the report added.

Emergency services arrived shortly after, transporting al-Din’s body to Al-Sadr Medical City Hospital in Najaf. Meanwhile, the police have launched an investigation into the attack.

Speaking to the Rudaw news network, authorities revealed: “The lion was put down by the authorities because it refused to leave the remains” of its owner.

Videos of the grisly aftermath have since flooded social media, with images showing “the lion lying in a pool of blood on the grass”, surrounded by cages in al-Din’s garden. (Nigerian Tribune)