Bhubaneswar: Two elephants were killed after being hit by a goods train near Bhusandpur railway station at Tangi in Khurda district on Saturday night.
According to sources, the incident took place around 8 pm when a herd of about eight elephants was crossing railway tracks near the Bhusandapur level crossing and heading towards farmlands in search of food.
While a tusker died on the spot, two others were grievously injured. The elephants in the herd had pushed the wounded elephants into the forest.
The tusker was found dead near Bhusandpur railway station and officials from Tangi Forest Division recovered the carcass of one of the two injured elephants from the forest this morning.
Notably, Forest, Environment and Climate Change Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha had recently told the Odisha Assembly that 406 elephants had died in the state between 2016-17 and 2020-21 and accidents had claimed the lives of 162 pachyderms.
According to data from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Odisha contributed 117 out of 600 electrocution-caused jumbo deaths in India during the above mentioned decade.
