Sundargarh: A female elephant was killed after being hit by a goods train between Jareikela-Manoharpur villages of Bisra area in Sundargarh district Wednesday evening, forest officials said Thursday.
The incident took place around 10.00pm Wednesday night when a herd of 10 elephants were crossing the railway tracks in between the villages of Jareikela and Manoharpur. The empty goods train which was passing through the spot hit the female elephant which was killed on the spot. The other elephants had a narrow shave, forest official said.
The train after hitting the animal came to a stop a few hundred metres down the track. Locals who witnessed the accident tried to catch the loco pilot and the guard. However, both fled the spot.
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Later the irate locals staged a demonstration on the track stopping the movement of trains. The ‘rail roko’ was only withdrawn after officials of the Indian Railway reached the spot and promised action against the errant driver. Normalcy in movement of trains was restored after three hours.
Forest department officials seized the elephant’s body and sent it for post-mortem, Thursday morning.
Locals alleged that the train was not below the speed of 50kmph as prescribe for that particular locality. It is known to be an elephant route and hence the Railways has instructed all drivers to drive at less than 50kmph. Also the driver did not blow the horn as is the norm while passing through that particular stretch. They demanded proper investigation into the matter.
PNN