Even a Herd of Elephants Can't Escape Oncoming Trains... Seven Killed Crossing Tracks

Five Train Cars Derailed, but No Human Casualties

In Assam state in northeastern India, a train collided with a herd of elephants crossing the railway tracks, resulting in the deaths of seven elephants.

According to Yonhap News on December 21 (local time), citing Assam state police, the accident occurred the previous morning on a railway about 125 kilometers southeast of Guwahati, the state capital of Assam, when a train collided with a herd of elephants.

Sharma stated that five passenger cars and the locomotive derailed in the accident, but there were no human casualties. Veterinarians performed autopsies on the dead elephants, which are scheduled to be buried on the afternoon of December 20.

On the 20th (local time), a train collided with a herd of elephants in Assam, northeastern India, resulting in the death of seven elephants at the scene. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The accident site is a forested area about 125 kilometers southeast of Guwahati, the capital of Assam. Elephants frequently appear along railway tracks in Assam, but Indian Railways said in a statement that the accident site was not designated as an elephant corridor.

After the accident, railway authorities transferred approximately 200 passengers from the derailed cars to another train and began restoring the railway. The Rajdhani Express train, which had departed from Sairang in Mizoram state bordering Myanmar, was carrying 650 passengers and was en route to New Delhi when it collided with the elephants.

Railway authorities have designated sections where elephants frequently cross as elephant corridors and imposed speed restrictions, but the accident site was reportedly not an established elephant corridor.

Assam, where the accident occurred, is home to about 7,000 wild elephants, and incidents of trains hitting wild elephants occur frequently. Since 2020, at least 12 elephants have been killed by speeding trains across India.

Previously, in 2022, more than 20 elephants in India became intoxicated and collapsed after stealing and drinking alcohol brewed by people. The elephants were so drunk that they could not be awakened, falling into a deep sleep, but eventually woke up and returned to the forest after local wildlife authorities beat drums.