Rourkela: At least two elephants were killed on the spot after being hit by a goods train in Rourkela late Wednesday night.
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The mishap occurred near Mahipani area of Bisra in Sundargarh district.
“Around 30 staff of our department were crossing the railway track along with the elephants when the speeding train, which was running at around 100 km speed, hit the two jumbos. Though our staff tried to stop the train by giving signal, it didn’t stop,” said Tankadhar Behera, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Rourkela Division.
The forest department will investigate as to why the train did not stop even after being given signal, the ACF added.
“This is an unfortunate incident. It happened at around 1 AM last night. Though it’s difficult to tell the exact reason of the incident, I think diversion of the elephants’ movement might have led to the accident,” said Nishant Kumar, Assistant Railway Manager, Bondamunda.
Notably, the Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Intercity Express hit an elephant and killed the pachyderm on the spot near Gargadbahal village between Jujumura and Hatibari area in Sambalpur district December 5.
Another tusker was killed after it was run over by the Puri-Surat Express train December 20 near Bhabanipali area between Hatibari and Maneswar railway stations under the Sambalpur division.
PNN