Balasore: A two-year-old boy died in a wall collapse in Odisha’s Balasore district late on Monday.
According to sources, the incident occurred at Kendukhunta village under Raibania police limits, when a herd of wild elephants raided the area at around 1 am. The parents rushed out with their two other children. However, the young boy remained inside, possibly entangled or overlooked while sleeping under a mosquito net. As the elephants damaged the structure, demolishing parts of the house in their attempt to access resources, the wall gave way and fell directly onto the child. He was taken to the Community Health Centre at Hatigarh but succumbed to his injuries.
The family has been left devastated, and villagers are mourning the loss while calling for immediate compensation and better protection measures.
The attack is linked to a herd of 30 elephants roaming the border areas of Raibania in Balasore and parts of Mayurbhanj district. Though forest guards keep a close watch on the herd’s movement, they keep wandering into human settlements at night in search of food. Some tuskers stray from West Bengal, complicating tracking and containment effort, the sources added.
