Police have filed chargers against the owner of three dogs which were reported to have fatally mauled a 4-year-old girl in a village in Ban Khewa district of the northeastern province of Chaiyaphum.

Ban Khewa district police have also talked to villagers who live in the neighbourhood of Village Two in Tambon Ban Khewa and witnessed the tragic incident which occurred on Tuesday.

One of the witnesses, Mr Noppon Kunthanawat,57, told police that he heard screams of a child and when went out he saw three dogs in the act of attacking a small girl.

He said he managed to scare the dogs away to help the girl who suffered serious injuries on her face, head and neck.  He immediately alerted his neighbours and rushed the young victim to the district hospital where she was later pronounced dead.

It was reported that the three dogs were owned by a neighbor who lives next door to the girl’s.

Police later summoned the dogs’ owner for questioning.

A police officer later said that the dogs’ owner who initially faced charges of negligence that resulted in injuries others.  The charge carries one-month imprisonment and/or a fine of 10,000 baht.

However, since the victim has died,  additional charges would be filed against the dogs’ owner, he said.