3 trampled to death by wild elephants

At least three people have been trampled to death by wild elephants in Boalkhali upazila of Chattogram yesterday morning.

The deceased were identified as Abdul Mabud, 62, of Jaishthapura; Abu Taher Mistri, 60, of Kadhurkhil, and Zakir Hossain, 66, of Syednagar areas in the upazila, said police.

Sub-inspector Jahangir Alam of Boalkhali Police Station said a herd of elephants trampled Zakir, a former headmaster of a local primary school, and another local Abu Taher when they stepped out of a mosque after Fajr prayers.

The herd then moved towards Jaishthapura area and killed farmer Mabud who was going to work in a vegetable field, said the officer.

The elephants came to Kadhurkhil area on Saturday morning. Officials of forest department along with locals tried to drive them off but did not succeed. They returned to the forest yesterday morning and trampled the three, police said.

Abu Naser Md Yeasin Neyaz, divisional forest officer (wildlife conservation) of Chattogram, said searching for food, the elephants came to a paddy field in the area.

As their habitat is being shrunk each year, they are getting desperate for food, he added.