Elephant turns violent, injures 20 worshippers during festival
Story by Dajen Comfort Yakubu
More than 20 people were injured, with two in critical condition, when an elephant turned violent during a local religious festival in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
Police said the incident took place at Tirur in Malappuram district, about 350 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala.
“Early today, at the end of four-day annual festivities at B P Angadi, an elephant turned violent and charged into the crowd in front of it. The elephant grabbed a man by his leg and swung him wildly before flinging him into the crowd.
“The incident triggered panic and a stampede-like situation in which over 20 people were injured,’’ a police official said.
According to the police, the injured were admitted to a hospital in Kottakkal.
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Reports said it took a couple of hours to control the elephant and prevent further damage adding that hundreds of people, including women and children, had gathered at the festival at Tirur.
Television images showed at least five elephants adorned with golden plates at the festival as people in the crowd were filming them with mobile phones. Suddenly, one of the elephants charged into the crowd as the mahout struggled to control it.
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