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Train kills 6 elephants in Assam
At least six wild elephants were mowed down by a passenger train Thursday before the engine derailed in northeastern state of Assam, officials said.
At least six wild elephants were mowed down by a passenger train Thursday before the engine derailed in northeastern state of Assam, officials said.
The accident took place near Bogapani village, close to the oil township of Digboi in eastern Assam.
A railway spokesman said an inter-city passenger train from Ledo to Dibrugarh in eastern Assam, 550 km from capital Guwahati, hit a small herd of elephants squatting on the tracks around 6 p.m. Thursday.
"Maybe the driver could not stop the running train before it hit the herd, leading to the deaths of at least two adult elephants and four calves. The train's engine later got derailed due to the impact," Robin Kalita, a top railway official told IANS. There have been no injuries or casualties to any of the passengers or railway personnel," Kalita said. The train, with five coaches, was carrying some 200 passengers.
Kailita said the passengers fled the site soon after the accident as a big herd of up to 100 elephants descended almost immediately.
"At this moment, the elephants are sitting on the track, apparently mourning the death of the six pachyderms. Our staff are unable to go near the train for fear of being attacked," the official said, adding that a team of forest officials and security forces are being rushed to the site to scare away the elephant herd.
It will be very difficult to chase away the herd as elephants normally are very sensitive when pachyderms of the same group get killed," a wildlife warden said.
Last year, five elephants were killed when a train ran over a herd in eastern Assam's Karbi Anglong district. Experts say wild elephants have been moving out of the jungles with humans encroaching on animal corridors.
There are an estimated 5,500 wild elephants in Assam out of India's total pachyderm population of 10,000. Bureau Report
The accident took place near Bogapani village, close to the oil township of Digboi in eastern Assam.
A railway spokesman said an inter-city passenger train from Ledo to Dibrugarh in eastern Assam, 550 km from capital Guwahati, hit a small herd of elephants squatting on the tracks around 6 p.m. Thursday.
"Maybe the driver could not stop the running train before it hit the herd, leading to the deaths of at least two adult elephants and four calves. The train's engine later got derailed due to the impact," Robin Kalita, a top railway official told IANS. There have been no injuries or casualties to any of the passengers or railway personnel," Kalita said. The train, with five coaches, was carrying some 200 passengers.
Kailita said the passengers fled the site soon after the accident as a big herd of up to 100 elephants descended almost immediately.
"At this moment, the elephants are sitting on the track, apparently mourning the death of the six pachyderms. Our staff are unable to go near the train for fear of being attacked," the official said, adding that a team of forest officials and security forces are being rushed to the site to scare away the elephant herd.
It will be very difficult to chase away the herd as elephants normally are very sensitive when pachyderms of the same group get killed," a wildlife warden said.
Last year, five elephants were killed when a train ran over a herd in eastern Assam's Karbi Anglong district. Experts say wild elephants have been moving out of the jungles with humans encroaching on animal corridors.
There are an estimated 5,500 wild elephants in Assam out of India's total pachyderm population of 10,000. Bureau Report