PALAKKAD: Hours after World Elephant Day was observed worldwide on Wednesday, a wild elephant and its calf were killed after being hit by the Mangaluru–Chennai Superfast Express near Chavadippara Puthuppathi in Walayar in the early hours of Thursday.
The accident occurred around 12.30 am on the Tamil Nadu side of the Kerala–Tamil Nadu border, disrupting train services on the route for several hours. The two elephants became trapped under the locomotive following the collision, making it difficult for railway and forest officials to remove the carcasses from the track.
The carcasses were dragged for nearly 50 metres along the track after the impact. Officials from the Kerala and Tamil Nadu Forest Departments, the Railways and the Walayar police reached the spot and launched efforts to clear the track and restore rail traffic.
A forest department team led by Walayar Range Officer R.S. Praveen and senior railway officials, including DRM Madhukar Raut, inspected the site.
The accident occurred in an area where railway fencing is currently under construction to prevent wild elephants from entering the tracks. Officials said the train was travelling at a relatively low speed while passing through the forested stretch, which helped prevent the locomotive from derailing and averted a potentially larger disaster.
The incident has once again raised concerns over elephant deaths on the Walayar–Kanjikode railway corridor, a known elephant movement zone.
Earlier, on February 4 this year, a young male wild elephant, estimated to be three-and-a-half to four years old, was killed after being hit by the Kannur–Yesvantpur Express near Vattappara, close to Manppara, on the A-line track between Walayar and Kanjikode. Forest officials had found evidence that the animal was dragged for nearly 50 metres before the train came to a halt.