Wild elephants trample two teens to death

Two teenagers were trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants in Alikadom upazila of Bandarban early yesterday.

The dead are Mansur Alam, 19 and Humayan Kabir, 18, of Konapara area in the upazila, said Kazi Rokib Uddin, officer-in-charge of Alikadom Police Station.

According to the police official, locals blocked the movement of the wild elephants. As a result, the elephants attacked the humans, leaving the duo injured.

"Of them, Mansur died at Lama Upazila Health Complex whereas Humayan breathed his last on the way to a local clinic in Cox's Bazar.

SM Kaiser, divisional forest officer (DFO), Lama, said humans have been blocking the passage of these wild elephants for a long time.

"It became serious in 2018 with the construction of Dohazari-Cox's Bazar rail line through the Chunati and Fasiakhali wildlife sanctuaries and Medhkachapia National Park."

It will be difficult to stop the human-elephant conflict in the future as the elephants' passages are already blocked in the area, said the DFO, adding that it would also pose a serious threat to wildlife and biodiversity in the region.