A woman in Texas has been killed by a pack of wild boars in south-east Texas.

Christine Rollins, 59, was attacked in Anahuac, east of Houston, outside a home where she worked as a caregiver to an elderly woman.

Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told reporters on Monday: “In my 35 years I will tell you it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.”

The victim was found by the 84-year-old woman she worked for after failing to show up for her shift on Sunday.

“No doubt in my mind that it was multiple animals and we can tell that from the different sizes of the bites,” said Sheriff Hawthorne, adding that the homeowner’s dogs appear to have chased away the hogs before Rollins’ body was discovered.

The sheriff said neighbours had recently complained about rampant feral hogs, and officials have since laid traps for them.

“This is a very rare incident – [from] just what little research we have found there’s less than six of these that have been reported in the nation,” he said.

Wild boars – sometimes called hogs in the US – can weigh between 100 and 400lbs (45 to 180kg). Their population in Texas has risen to 1.5m in recent years.