Two road construction workers were killed after being attacked by a wild elephant inside the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh's Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur (MCB) district, forest officials said on Monday.
The incident occurred late on Sunday night near Devsil village, where labourers engaged in road construction work were resting after dinner. According to officials, the workers had lit a fire and were sitting nearby when an elephant suddenly emerged and attacked them.
One of the victims, identified as 22-year-old Gaurav, died on the spot. Another worker, Amar Singh (35), sustained critical injuries and later succumbed while being transported to Sonhat Hospital in the early hours of Monday.
Forest personnel from the tiger reserve rushed to the site after receiving information about the attack and initiated necessary procedures.
The victims were part of a workforce involved in the construction of a road connecting Ramgarh in Korea district and Kotadol in MCB district. The attack took place in a forested stretch falling under the MCB district.
Officials said the families of the deceased would receive immediate financial assistance of Rs 25,000 each following post-mortem formalities. The remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh per victim will be disbursed after completion of the required administrative process.
Spread across the districts of MCB, Korea, Surajpur and Balrampur, the Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve has witnessed increasing human-wildlife interactions in recent years.
Human-elephant conflict continues to be a major challenge in northern Chhattisgarh and has gradually expanded into parts of the state's central region. Districts such as Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Jashpur and Balrampur have been particularly affected by the issue.
According to forest department data, more than 325 people have lost their lives in elephant attacks across Chhattisgarh over the past five years.
(With inputs from PTI)