A passenger train in India hit a herd of elephants as they were crossing the train tracks, killing up to seven of them and injuring ten others on Wednesday.
A herd of about 40 elephants were walking across train tracks at the Chapramari wildlife sanctuary near Bengal in India Wednesday night when a passenger train speeding past at 80 kmph (50 mph) struck them. While no human injuries were reported in the accident, up to seven of the pachyderms were killed from the impact and ten others were wounded, reports Nature World News.
Passengers on the train were stranded after the accident as they waited for the elephant carcasses to be removed from the tracks. Another train was later sent out to the site to pick them up.
Out of the seven elephants that were killed, two of them were calves. Officials are also worried that many of the injured elephants could die from their injuries.
According to The Guardian, Wednesday’s accident is the worst involving elephants in recent history.
Veterinarians on the scene said that a few of the elephants died from internal bleeding and one had been completely mutilated in the crash.
One deceased elephant was left handing by a bridge and had to be dismembered to remove it, reports the New York Times. One of the surviving elephants, a female whose leg was broken in the impact, fell into the ravine below the train tracks and veterinarians had to enter the ravine to give her treatment.
Hands are currently pointing to the driver of the train, claiming that negligence was responsible for the accident.
“The incident is a result of callousness on the part of the Railways. There is a clear restriction on speed, not exceeding 40 kmph. But we have reports that the Guwahati-bound Kabiguru Express was running at a higher speed,” Forest Minister Hiten Barman told The Hindu in a phone interview.
This year in India, a total of 17 elephants have been killed by trains after Wednesday’s accident.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
