Four elephants killed as engine ploughs into herd

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DHARMAPURI MARCH 31. Four cow elephants, including two calves, were killed when a railway engine ploughed through them at Chinna Ullukuruki village between Royakottai and Kelamangalam, near Hosur, in Tamil Nadu on Sunday night.

An elephant herd from the Kelamangalam forest area was crossing the track when two railway engines attached to each other (coupled light engines) bound for Bangalore from Salem hit it. Four of the elephants, including the calves, were thrown on to the sloping sides of the track while one was caught under the wheels.

Three died on the spot. One of them, injured in its leg and trunk, died this afternoon. The elephant caught under the wheels of the engine was dragged for over 500 metres before the engine came to a halt after being derailed.
Forest and Railway personnel rushed to the spot. A rescue train from Bangalore was summoned and the derailed engine was towed back to Bangalore. Traffic on the route suffered for over four hours.

It was a pathetic sight to see the pachyderms, especially the claves, lying dead. Even worse was the plight of the injured elephant writhing in pain. Villagers kept pouring water over it to ease its agony. They placed flowers on the carcasses and smeared turmeric paste. Unable to control their grief, women cried over the tragedy.

The District Forest Officer, S. Paulraj, said post-mortem was performed on the spot and that cremation would take place there itself. The elephants must have come there in search of water and the impact of the slide down the steep slope caused the death of four of them.

Villagers said the acute drought conditions prevailing in the forest had forced the herd to stray to the Gounder Eri near the tracks. They said it was high time the Government created more water holes in the forest area to avoid frequent man-elephant conflicts as well as avert such accidents. Earlier this month two elephants were found dead in the forests around Hosur after drinking muddy water.