3 elephants fall into 17-foot deep well in Tamil Nadu, rescued within 6 hours

The forest officials dug up the land around the well using earth movers and created a slope, enabling the elephants to climb out of the well.

Three elephants were rescued from a 17-foot deep farm well on Wednesday, hours after they fell into it in a forest fringe village in the district, officials said.

A zookeeper sprinkles water on an elephant during a hot summer day at Alipore Zoological Garden in Kolkata on June 20. (AFP Photo/Representative image)

On hearing their trumpeting, residents of the village in Kadambur forest area noticed the elephants in the well with about five feet of water and informed forest personnel.

Forest officials along with a rescue team reached the spot.

They dug up the land around the well using earth movers and created a slope, enabling the elephants to climb out of the well, the officials said.

The rescue operation lasted six hours, they added.