An elephant brought for the festival of Chembolakulangara Temple at Kottappadi, near Guruvayur, turned unruly and killed two people on Friday. Many others were injured in the mayhem.
The deceased were identified as Narayanan Patteri, 66, of Taliparamba and Murukan from Narikuni, Kozhikode.
The incident happened when elephant Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran, which was brought for the festival, was taken to a nearby house, where the house-warming ceremony was being held, to give food and water. The elephant panicked when somebody burst firecrackers. The animal started running and Narayanan Patteri, who had come for the house-warming ceremony, was trampled to death in the chaos. Murukan who was seriously injured in the incident later died in the hospital. Many people who ran helter-skelter also suffered injuries.
Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran, one of the tallest elephants in the State, is much sought-after for temple festivals. The elephant, which had killed three women during a ceremony at Rayamangalam Koottumadam Temple, was banned from public ceremonies in 2013.
Though the elephant with impaired vision had killed 12 people, including six of his mahouts, it was being paraded regularly, including for Thrissur Pooram, flouting guidelines, the Thrissur-based Heritage Animal Task Force said.
