In a sad incident, three elephants, including two calves, succumbed to their injuries after they were hit by a freight train near Bansapani under the Joda Forest Section’s Champua Range on Thursday.
A herd of 22 elephants had been crossing the Bansapani railway line at around 7.30 pm when the train hit them, leaving three of them critically injured. While one injured calf died in the night, another calf and a female elephant succumbed to their injuries early on Friday morning.
As per Joda forest officials, though they reached the spot soon after getting information about the mishap, they failed to provide treatment to the injured elephants as the remaining 19 pachyderms did not move an inch from the spot following the accident.
When contacted, Keonjhar DFO Dhanraj HD said, “The Forest Department had information regarding presence of a herd in the said area, following which concerned officials had kept a strict vigil on the movement of the pachyderms throughout the day. As the railway authorities were also informed about the same, the train’s speed had not exceeded 25 kmph when the accident occurred. The mishap took place due to extreme darkness.”