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A herd of elephants was hit by a passenger train in India’s northeast, resulting in seven deaths immediately, authorities reported Saturday. Thankfully, no passengers or train crew members were harmed in the incident in Assam, which is home to over 4,000 of India’s approximately 22,000 wild elephants.
Senior police official VV Rakesh Reddy told AFP that seven elephants lost their lives while another was injured. The accident caused five train cars to derail on the route from Mizoram to New Delhi. Despite measures like speed limits on designated elephant corridors, the train was outside these zones when the incident occurred, according to Indian Railways spokesperson Kapinjal Kishore Sharma.
He explained that the train’s driver attempted to stop upon seeing the herd, applying emergency brakes. However, the elephants were already too close and crossed in front of the train. Deforestation and construction projects near elephant habitats are forcing these animals to venture farther in search of food, increasing their chances of coming into conflict with humans.
In India, statistics show that 629 people were killed by elephants during the 2023-2024 period.
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