31.12.12

Somewhere in Odisha....




A herd of five elephants and a foetus were killed after being hit by a speeding train near Subalaya in Ganjam district, about 50km from Bubhaneshwar, on Saturday night.
A 40-year-old man, engaged by a private contractor as a bedroll assistant in the train, was found dead, though it was unclear as to how he died during the accident, officials said.
The elephants—three females, a tusker, a calf besides a foetus—were killed after being hit by the Chennai-bound Coromondal Express around 1am, officials said. One of the female elephants was in the advanced stages of pregnancy and the impact of the hit forced the foetus to come out.
Berhampur divisional forest officer S S Mishra said the elephants were crossing the railway track when the train hit them one after the other, killing them on the spot. Before the accident, forest staff had driven out the herd, camping at Dumanagiri jungle, he said.
The DFO said around 20 elephants from the Chandaka elephant sanctuary near Bhubaneswar had migrated to the area some months ago.

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