Youth dies in elephant attack in Coimbatore, five others injured

COIMBATORE: A youth died in an elephant attack and his friend critically injured, while attempting to chase away the animal that strayed into a residential neighbourhood in Coimbatore on Sunday night.

According to the forest department, R Karthik from Indira Nagar at Viraliyur near Thondamuthur and his friend A Harish, (22) from Kanuvai attempted to chase away the wild elephant that strayed into their village, when they came under attack.

S Bhaskaran, 55, a native of Kumbakonam and employed as a priest at a temple in Viraliyur, was returning home from the temple, when an elephant attacked him after a chase.He suffered a fracture in his legs and fell on the spot.

On receiving information, a team of forest department staff rushed to the spot and sent him by a 108 ambulance to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH).

Even as the forest department made announcements asking people to stay safe because of elephant movement, a wild jumbo made its way into a farm in ‘Erumakuttai’ village.

Then, Karthik and his friend Harish attempted to chase the elephant, when another elephant emerged from the dark and charged them.

The infuriated elephant chased and trampled Karthik to death, while his friend Harish suffered critical injuries in the attack. He was then taken to CMCH for treatment.

In another incident, three persons suffered minor injuries in an attack by a wild elephant that was retreating into the forest in the morning after raiding crops in the farmlands in Thondamuthur.

Meanwhile, AIADMK MLA’s led by ex-minister and Thondamuthur MLA SP Velumani submitted a petition to District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati on Monday demanding concrete measures to prevent elephant intrusions and save the lives of people.

He demanded the forest department to translocate the wild elephant from their neighbourhood.