Lion attacks Bloc Party guitarist

Bloc Party's Russell Lissack ended up in hospital last month when a lion attacked him. The guitarist was visiting a wild animal sanctuary while on tour with Ash in South Africa when the animal bit him, drawing blood. During time off around shows in Johannesburg and Cape Town, Lissack went on a field trip with Ash frontman Tim Wheeler. He was playing with a cuddly little lion cub – there's an innocuous photo over at Spinner – when it attacked. No matter the cat's youth, there's no messing about when it comes to man-eating carnivores. Lissack was taken to hospital, where he received treatment and a tetanus booster. Within hours of the musicians' visit, the hospital was sealed off, according to a band spokesperson, after two men died of an unrelated, and unidentified, virus. To make matters worse, the band had a car crash on their way back to the hotel. Happily, no one sustained further injuries and everyone is now fine, Spinner reports. Ash are back in the UK, preparing their second anthology of A-Z singles. It's not clear whether Lissack will continue playing with them; with Bloc Party on hiatus, he was invited into the group for a string of live dates. Lissack's electronic pop side project, Pin Me Down, released their debut in April.