ELEPHANT KILLED IN TRAIN MISHAP

A female adult elephant was knocked down by the West Coast express heading to Chennai from Mangaluru near Walayar early on Friday, the third pachyderm to die so tragically within a span of just 40 days in the forests bordering Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Around 5.30 am, the speeding West Coast express hit the elephant, aged around 20, while it was crossing the track. “On impact, the elephant was thrown 15- ft away from the track. It battled for life for more than an hour before breathing its last. Forest department staff rushed to the spot, but could not save the animal,” said a forest department staff. Wildlife activists blame the Railways for refusing to lower the speed of trains passing through elephant corridors. Trains should maintain a speed of not more than 30 Kmph for a distance of around five- km between Madukkarai and Walayar.