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Elephant dies after being hit by train in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district
This is the third elephant death in the state in the last four days. On Saturday, two days after the death of a 55-year-old elephant in Motichur range of Rajaji Tiger Reserve in infighting, the other elephant involved in the infighting also died. His carcass was found in Song River in Chiddarwala area of Haridwar district.
An elephant was killed after being hit by a train in Nainital district on Sunday. The elephant was hit by a train travelling from Lalkuan to Bareilly, officials said.
According to railway officials, a special goods train was going towards Bareilly from Lalkuan on Sunday morning. When the train reached near pillar number 62/1/2 a herd of four to five elephants appeared on the rail tracks and one of them was hit by the train despite the train’s loco pilot trying to reduce the speed of the train.
Dhruv Singh Martoliya, sub-divisional officer (SDO) Tarai East forest division said an elephant died after being hit by a train in Lalkuan on Sunday morning. “The incident happened, when an elephant’s herd was crossing the railway track and going into the forest,” he said
After the incident, teams of forest and railway officials rushed to the spot and informed other senior officials about the incident.
This is the third elephant death in the state in the last four days. On Saturday, two days after the death of a 55-year-old elephant in Motichur range of Rajaji Tiger Reserve in infighting, the other elephant involved in the infighting also died. His carcass was found in Song River in Chiddarwala area of Haridwar district.
On Thursday infighting had taken place between a 55-year-old and 25-year-old elephant near Satya Narayan Temple-Kasron area, which probably lasted for 60-90 minutes, resulting in injuries for both the elephants.
Many elephants have died in the state in last one year or so in train hit incidents. On August 18 last year, two elephants died in a train hit incident in Peepal Padao forest range of Kumaon.
Elephant numbers have crossed the 2,000 mark in the state, according to an elephant census held last year. The state has recorded a 29.9% increase in elephant numbers since 2015.
