Family of 4 Killed by Aggressive, Roving Elephant Herd

A family of four, including a baby and a toddler, has been identified as four of the six people killed when a herd of elephants stampeded last week,Hindustan Times andPress Trust of India reported.

6 People Killed Amidst Elephants Stampede

It happened on Friday, Feb. 13, in Jharkhand’s Hazaribag district, India. Vikas Kumar Ujjwal, a forest officer with Jharkhand’s Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, explained that the “rogue herd” entered the village on the evening of Feb. 12. The family and two other victims were killed in the early hours of last Friday as they attempted to escape the herd. "We had alerted villagers through the public address system as the herd entered the block,” Ujjwal said. “Unfortunately, when people tried to flee from their homes, six of them were trampled to death.”

The two adolescent victims were aged one year and three months, respectively. According to Poonam Devi, a relative of the deceased, the two children were alone at home when the elephants descended upon the village. Another child was seriously injured in the stampede, but is in stable condition after being transported to a hospital in Hazaribag.

This Herd Has Been Connected to Other Fatalities

This is not the first time that this herd of elephants has attacked unwitting humans. In the days leading up to the most recent fatal attack, the elephants were spotted causing non-lethal chaos in the Ramgarh and Hazaribag districts. They reportedly caused two further casualties in Bokaro.

“The herd is quite aggressive and has been moving very fast; it has become difficult for the forest staff to monitor it,” Ujjwal said. “But now, we have formed a special team which will keep a close watch on it round the clock. A team of experts has also been called from Bankura so that it could be kept away from the residential areas. Meanwhile,” he concluded, “permission has been sought from the higher authorities to tranquillise the herd.”