Kolkata: Two full grown elephants and a calf were killed when a speeding train knocked them down in Jhargram district on early Tuesday morning.
According to local administration, the elephants were crossing the railway track near Gidhni railway station at around 1.30 am when hit by Gyaneswari Express. Gidhni railway station is situated at a distance of around 180 km from Kolkata.
A senior Forest department official said a herd of 11 elephants were seen roaming around the forest areas of Jhargram for the past few days.
The three elephants, which were killed, are suspected to be a part of the herd recently spotted.
Following the incident, senior Forest department officials and police officers reached the spot to monitor the situation.
The carcasses were removed from the railway track. The senior Forest department officials said it was not an isolated incident. The carcasses were later cremated at a nearby forest later in the day. According to a forest official, there must be some mechanism to avoid the death of elephants in this manner. Without a proper mechanism, these incidents cannot not be averted.
The incident has led to the disruption of trains.
According to railway sources, train services were partially affected for around two hours at the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section of the South Eastern Railway (SER).Three local trains — Jhargram-Medinipur, Kharagpur-Dhanbad and Kharagpur-Purulia — were cancelled this morning, an official said.