60-year-old woman tea garden worker trampled to death by wild elephants in Assam

According to the locals, elderly woman was working near Kaliden tea estate during the wee hours of Tuesday and didn’t notice that a herd of wild elephants had entered that area in search of food

A 60-year-old tea garden worker has been trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants in Assam’s Nagaon district, forest officials said.

Assam forest officials said that they are taking several measures to control the increasing human-elephant conflicts in the state and to ensure coexistence. (Representative Image)

The woman identified as Lucia Ekka, a resident of Nagaon’s Kaliabor, fell victim of the fatal encounter with wild elephants near Kaliden tea estate during the wee hours of Tuesday.

According to the locals, she was working near her house and didn’t notice that a herd of wild elephants had entered that area in search of food.

“She suddenly encountered the herd and was trampled by the pachyderms. We called the forest officials, and they recovered her in critical condition,” locals said .

The family members with the help of the forest officials took her to Tezpur Civil Hospital but after a few hours, she succumbed. The body has been sent for postmortem and it will be handed over to the family members, officials said.

Assam State Forest Department officials said that they are taking several measures to control the increasing human-elephant conflicts in the state and to ensure coexistence.

“In recent years, both humans and elephants have died because of this conflict, and we are trying to find ways to maintain the coexistence. For that, understanding the nature of wild elephants and how human behaviour impacts it, needs to be studied more,” officials said.