The accident occurred barely a week after a meeting had been held between the railways and the forest department to discuss ways to avert animal deaths on tracks.
Sumita Ghatak, the divisional forest officer of wildlife II, said the Diana range officer had informed the control room of the Northeast Frontier Railway's Alipurduar division at 9.10pm yesterday that a herd of elephants was close to the tracks near Red Bank tea estate, 8km from Banarhat.
“But around 9.30pm, the Asansol Express on its way to Siliguri hit two elephants. A female aged around 15 was hit on the left side of the waist and it can neither sit nor move. The other elephant, also a female aged around 35, has suffered injuries on the leg," she said.
The foresters could not take any immediate steps as other members of the herd were around and it was difficult to identify the injured animals at night. “At 11am today, the sub-adult female was lifted with the help of a crane onto a truck and taken to the Gorumara National Park for treatment," said the DFO. The adult elephant was being treated by vets near the accident spot. Read the full report here.
Source: Our Correspondent, The Telegraph, Alipurduar.
