Elephant runs amok, injures two

RUNAWAY ANIMAL: The elephant that ran amok during a temple festival at Koyilandy on Thursday tries to enter a house.

An elephant, which was brought for a temple festival at Koyilandy, ran amok early on Thursday morning injuring two persons at the festival venue.

The elephant, named Vishnu, also destroyed the windowpanes and doors of a house in the area.

According to witnesses, the elephant went berserk at around 1.30 a.m. in the compound of the Manakkulangara temple when it was reportedly attacked by another elephant during the temple festival.

Though Vishnu did not attack the local people, two persons suffered injuries while running away from the spot in panic.

It took hours for the Forest Squad to calm the elephant. The efforts of the mahout and his team to bring the pachyderm under control proved futile.

The animal had begun to run from one location to the other, pulling down areca nut trees in the area.

Later, the Forest Squad fired tranquiliser shots twice to tame the animal. A forest official said the screams of the crowd had probably panicked the animal and delayed the attempts of the Forest Squad to carry out rescue operations.