BALASORE: The death of an elderly man in elephant attack in Hadgarh forest range of Kuldiha wildlife sanctuary led to closure of at least 10 schools in Khaira area of Balasore district on Friday.
The deceased was identified as 63 year-old Surendra Prasad Das of Nuasahi village under Khaira police limits.
Sources said two tuskers from Hadgarh forest entered Bageipur village on Thursday night and reportedly damaged harvested paddy crops of some residents. On being informed, forest personnel of Kupari section rushed to Bageipur in the night and managed to drive out the two elephants from the village.
While one of the tuskers returned to Kuldiha sanctuary, the other entered Nuasahi village in the morning. When residents of Nuasahi tried to drive it away, the tusker became agitated and charged towards Surendra who was standing on the road in front of his house. After trampling the elderly man, the tusker moved towards the nearby forest.
Surendra was rushed to Khaira community health centre where the doctors declared him dead. Khaira police seized the body for postmortem after registering an unnatural death case.
Following the incident, the district administration ordered closure of at least 10 schools in Khaira area to prevent any untoward incident.
Khaira block education officer Narayan Das said considering the presence of the two tuskers in the area, 10 schools located near Mahatipur, Nuasahi, Anderei and Sundhira Gandibed villages were closed on the day.