Three elephants die after being hit by train

Forest Department officials inspecting the carcasses of the elephants near Madukkarai in Coimbatore district on Friday.

Three elephants died after being hit by a train near Madukkarai in Coimbatore district on Friday evening.

According to officials from the Forest Department, the three female elephants – an adult, a sub-adult and a juvenile – were crossing the railway track near Navakkarai within the Madukkarai forest range around 9 p.m. on Friday.

At this point in time, Train No. 12602 Chennai Mail, operated from Mangaluru to Chennai, hit the three elephants at a section that falls under the Palakkad Railway Division near Marappalam Thottam. The elephants died on the spot.

District Forest Officer of Coimbatore Forest Division T.K. Ashok Kumar visited the spot. “The three elephants belonged to the same herd,” he said.

Mr. Ashok Kumar said the Forest Department and the Palakkad Division of Southern Railway made arrangements to send the train with passengers back to Walayar. However, the loco pilots were detained for inquiry, he added.

In March this year, a 25-year-old male elephant was severely injured after being hit by a train outside the reserve forest area of the Madukkarai forest range close to the inter-State border and later succumbed to the injuries.