Speeding train kills five elephants in eastern India

Onlookers gather around an elephant that was killed by a passenger train in the Rambha forest area, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of the eastern Indian state of Orissa, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. A passenger train has plowed into and killed five elephants of a herd crossing railroad tracks in eastern India. Dozens of elephants have died in India in recent years after being struck while crossing railroad tracks that often run through national parks and forests. AP

Bhubaneshwar, India–A speeding passenger train killed five elephants when it ploughed into a herd crossing the track in eastern India, a railway spokesman said Monday.

The train struck the animals on Sunday near the Khallikote forest range in Orissa state’s Ganjam district, some 120 kilometres (74 miles) south of the state capital Bhubaneshwar.

“The local forest department had alerted the railway control room about the possibility of the movements of the animals but by the time we got the message the accident had already occurred,” spokesman R. N. Mohapatra told AFP.

The train was badly damaged and it took railroad workers several hours to clear the tracks.

A local forest officer said one of the animals that was killed was a 45-year-old pregnant mother.

The state has a poor record of protecting its wildlife with as many as 250 elephants and 504 other wild animals having died since 2009, according to official data.

India is home to around 25,000 Asian elephants but their numbers are falling due to poaching, chiefly for the precious ivory, and destruction of habitat by human populations.