Elephant tramples 4 Rohingyas to death in Cox’s Bazar
Four Rohingya people including three children were trampled to death by an elephant today when it was crossing through Ukhia's reserve forest area in Cox’s Bazar blocked by temporary camps set up for the helpless people.
The deceased were identified as Taslima, 32, Rumana, 11, Salma, 7, and Safuna, 2. Among them, Rumana and Salma were siblings.
The wild elephant was trying to cross Balukhali camp-1 around 5:00am when the incident occurred, our Cox’s Bazar staff correspondent reports quoting Md Ali Kabir, divisional forest officer of Cox's Bazar South Forest Division.
Rumana and Salma died on the spot while Taslima and Safuna succumbed to their injuries on way to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, the forest official said.
The three Rohingya people who were also injured during the incident were admitted at the same hospital.
Two people in the same upazila were killed in similar incident recently.
Over 536,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh, after violence broke out in their homeland in Myanmar's Rakhine on August 25.
Experts say many parts of the 30,000 acres of forest land in Ukhia have already been razed to the ground and the Rohingya settlement could be the final nail in the coffin for the large mammals.
Talking to The Daily Star on September 23, biodiversity expert Anisuzzaman, chief adviser of Isabella Foundation, said around 50 elephants, which were already in trouble due to the construction of Cox's Bazar-Teknaf highway, could face the threat of extinction if their migratory routes are kept blocked.
In a survey published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on March 21, 2017, the total number of resident wild elephants were investigated in Bangladesh. It gave an official estimate of 268 elephants, all residing in south-eastern forest areas of the country.
This initiative also mapped out the routes elephants follow around the year and managed to mark 12 crucial small passages, known as elephant corridors, which they use to travel between forests.
The study has also pointed out 57 elephant crossing-points on the international borders with India and Myanmar.
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