Rourkela: An adult female elephant died in Rourkela forest division’s Rajgangpur range, about 40 km from Rourkela, after being struck by a speeding train.
The incident occurred around 5.20 am on Thursday when Bhubaneswar-Dhanbad Special Express hit the elephant crossing the tracks between Sagra and Sonakhan on the Howrah-Mumbai line under South Eastern Railway’s Chakradharpur division. The injured elephant dragged itself to an adjacent track and collapsed.
Regional chief conservator of forests P Ramaswamy, divisional forest officer Jaswant Sethi, and railway officials rushed to the spot and took stock of the situation. A veterinary team provided initial treatment, and the elephant was moved by crane to a vehicle for further care at Sagra railway siding, but it died en route at around 2.30 pm.
A postmortem was later conducted, and the carcass was buried nearby.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident and any lapses by forest or railway staff.
Notably, the Sunakhan locality was earmarked as elephant movement zone after Gitanjali Express mowed down a female elephant in November 2013. Two elephants were killed on the same rail route in February 2021 after hit by a goods train. In October 2024, a calf was killed and two other elephants were wounded at Bondamunda after being hit by a goods train.
The incidents have been continuing despite claims of real-time monitoring of elephant movements using technologies, round-the-clock operation of control room and enhanced coordination between the Forest department and railways.