Trying to save young ones, seven elephants mowed down by train

A speeding goods train crushed seven elephants to death in West Bengal after the animals tried to rescue two calves that got stuck in the tracks, forest officials said.

Lack of co-ordination between the railways and the forest rangers led to the deaths late on Wednesday night. The baby elephants became trapped as a herd was crossing the line in a densely-forested area in Jalpaiguri district.

“Five elephants died immediately while two died of injuries on Thursday morning,” Atanu Raha, Bengal’s chief forest conservator said.

The adults had crowded around the stricken calves to protect them when they were hit, he added. The two calves were among the dead.

Raha said the train was travelling at 70 km an hour when the speed limit was restricted to a maximum of 40 km. “We have lodged a complaint with the local police station against the railway,” he said.

According to the railways, it was not informed about the movement of the elephants, which led to the incident. A zonal railway official said, “There are certain areas in the zone identified as elephant corridor. In such corridors, we take special care and trains follow speed restrictions and take extra caution such as continuous use of whistle. Drivers are extra vigilant in these areas.”

“However, the place where the accident has taken place is outside the elephant corridor. The forest officials did not inform us about any elephant movement in the area,” the official said. Railway officials are due to meet forest department officials in the coming days to find ways of preventing such incidents.

Traffic was suspended overnight and the surviving members of the herd were still at the scene in the morning, watching over the dead, he said. More than 20 elephants had died in a little over a year in the area, which is a known corridor for the wild animals, an official said.
— With inputs from AFP