German clown weeps for dead camel

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German clown was mourning after his pet camel escaped from the circus, wandered too close to a railway track and made a fatal leap into the path of a passing train, police say.


Railway police alerted the driver of the approaching goods train that Roccy, a 12-year-old Bactrian camel, was roaming alongside the track in Brandenburg, north-eastern Germany, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.


"We don't see camels on railway tracks very often in Germany," said Mirko Heinke, a police spokesman, who explained the train driver would not be held liable for Roccy's death.


Expecting the camel to keep clear of the train, the driver didn't brake and the frightened animal fell under the passing wagons to instant death.


"Roccy has worked in the circus for 10 years and my son grew up with him -- they were always together," said Eugen Trumpf, owner of the Trumpf circus and father of 24-year-old clown Simon. "We have all suffered a great loss."


Now the circus must find a replacement camel as soon as possible to prevent their other camel, a dromedary called Ali, from pining away in loneliness.