BHUBANESWAR: At least two elephants were killed after being hit by a speeding train near Bhusandapur in the Khurda forest division on Saturday evening.
Forest officials confirmed that a female and a sub-adult male elephant succumbed to the injuries in the tragic accident which happened at around 6.50 pm when a herd of 19 elephants was passing over the railway line near Bhusandapur level crossing.
While 17 members of the herd managed to cross the track safely, two elephants were reportedly hit by a goods train.
The forest team which was monitoring the movement of the herd on field initially assumed it to be a minor accident as one of the elephants was seen limping to the forest along with the herd.
Later it was confirmed that one of the elephants died a few metres away from the spot, while the other limped to the forest and was found dead on Sunday morning.
Confirming the death of the two elephants in the train collision, Khurda Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Poornima P said that the carcasses of the jumbos will be disposed off after completion of the post-mortem.
The DFO further said that the matter is being investigated and they are in touch with the railway officials in this regard.
Earlier, PCCF Shashi Paul had informed TNIE that the forest team on the field had issued a caution order to the loco-pilot in advance to look out for the jumbo herd in the area and slow down the train.
The Khurda DFO also said that a caution order is issued on the stretch regularly to alert train drivers regarding the movement of the elephant herd in the area.
This is the second such mishap in the state this year. Earlier, two elephants had been killed in a train accident near Mahipani in Sundargarh district on February 4 in which a parcel van had hit two female jumbos on the Down line between Bhalulata-Jaraikela under South Eastern Railway (SER) division.
Forest and Environment minister Bikram Keshari Arukha had informed the state assembly on December 7 that at least 14 elephants had been mowed down by trains in the last five years between 2016-17 and 2020-21.