A 22-year-old man from Assam was trampled to death by a wild elephant on the premises of the brick kiln where he worked, near Coimbatore late on Sunday.
The police and Forest Department identified the deceased as Saritul Islam, who hailed from Mayong village in Morigaon district of Assam. He is the second brick kiln worker from Assam to have been killed in the attack of wild elephants in Periyathadagam, in a period of about two months.
Officials said that Islam had been working at the ARS Brick Chamber at Periyathadagam, around 20 km away from Coimbatore city, for the past three months. Islam had an encounter with a wild elephant around 8.30 p.m. on Sunday, when he had gone out to attend to nature’s call.
A lone elephant that had strayed from the nearby forest attacked him before he could run away, said other workers to Forest Department officials. Co-workers found Isam lying on the ground, injured. After being alerted by the brick kiln staff, an ambulance reached the spot soon and the technicians gave him first aid before taking him to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. However, he died before the ambulance could reach the hospital.
The Thadagam police registered a case and the body was autopsied on Monday.
Over a dozen killed
Islam is the 13th person to have been killed in the attack of wild elephants within the limits of the Coimbatore Forest Division this year.
Babul Hussain (30), also a native of Assam and a worker attached to a brick kiln at Periyathadagam, was killed in the attack of a wild elephant on August 8 this year.
On October 4, a 64-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant within the limits of Thadagam reserve forest where he had gone in search of his missing cow.
Thadagam reserve forest is close to many brick kilns located at Periyathadagam and Chinna Thadagam, where elephants enter in search of water, fodder and also to move to other locations.
The fermented smell from the pith of palmyra palm trunks, which are used as fuel in brick kilns, also attract wild elephants according to Forest Department officials, though its use was banned by the district administration a few years ago.
