THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An elephant, Gowrinandan, brought for temple procession at Marayamuttom near Neyyattinkara killed the second mahout after it went berserk on Saturday. The deceased is Vishnu, 25, of Kollam. Some people standing near the temple were injured after they fell down when the elephant ran amok.
The Marayamuttom police have registered a case in connection with the incident. According to police, the incident took place around 7.30 pm at Ayayil Bhagavathy temple when the mahouts were taking the elephant to an open area in the temple.
Soon, the elephant got disturbed and ran amok. Though Vishnu tried to tether the elephant, he lost his balance and fell on the ground. Eventually, he was crushed to death. The elephant later ran amok for nearly half kilometre triggering panic among the local residents. However, the timely intervention of forest officers and mahouts helped tether the elephant around 8 pm. The body of Vishnu has been shifted to the morgue of Neyyattinkara general hospital, police said.