Korba (Chhattisgarh): A wild elephant, separated from its herd, trampled to death a 55-year-old woman and five cattle in Chhattisgarh's Korba district on Thursday morning, officials said.
The elephant had strayed into the residential areas of Hardibazaar, located adjacent to South Eastern Coalfields Limited's (SECL) Dipka and Kusmunda coal mines. Villagers had seen the jumbo roaming on the streets in Haribazaar area at around 5:30 am today.
Gayatri Rathore (55) was out on a morning walk when the elephant attacked her near the market of Raliya village. Her family members shifted her to a hospital in a critical condition but she died during treatment.
Later, the jumbo trampled five cattle to death in Khodri village.
On information that the elephant was seen heading towards Naraibodh village, a team of forest personnel reached the spot and efforts are on to drive away the jumbo from the populated area.
This is the second incident of elephant attack in the coal mine area in the last few years. Around two years back, a group of five to six elephants was spotted near Reki village in Nevsa. Usually, elephants do not venture into the villages near coal mines, officials said.
"The forest department has alerted the villagers and asked them to stay away from the elephant. An initiative has been undertaken to drive away the elephant from the residential areas to Kartala forest. The elephant has got separated from its herd and is quite aggressive. It was last spotted roaming in Khodri village," Kumar Nishant, DFO Katghora Forest Division Officer said.
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