A man was attacked by an elephant at a religious festival in India. The elephant reportedly grabbed the man’s leg with its trunk and shook it roughly before throwing it away.
According to the Indian daily Times of India on the 8th (local time), the accident occurred earlier in the day at a religious festival in Tirur, Malapuram, 350 kilometers north of Tiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala in southern India.
An elephant suddenly jumped into the crowd at the festival site this morning, the last day of the four-day annual religious festival, a police official said. “The elephant grabbed a man’s leg with its trunk, shook it roughly, and threw it into the crowd.”
The official also added that more than 20 people were injured when a frightened crowd scrambled to flee, causing a similar situation to the crush. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, with two reportedly in a critical condition.
Hundreds of people, including women and children, were gathered at the scene of the accident, and authorities reportedly took about two hours to stop the rampaging elephant.
Local TV media showed a scene where an elephant began to go on a rampage while people were taking pictures of four elephants decorated with gold ornaments on their phones at the festival site.
Netizens who heard the news of the accident responded, “I think the elephant was stressed out and acted strangely,” “Stop bullying elephants,” and “Isn’t it a festival for people or an abuse for elephants?”
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
