Elephants electrocuted by fallen power line

Nine elephants were electrocuted near a village in eastern Botswana this week after they came into contact with a fallen power line near a water source, officials said.

The country’s government said in a statement Wednesday that the Botswana Power Corp. detected problems Monday in the power system that serves an area near the eastern village of Dukwi, and sent an official, Thabo Nlashiki, to investigate.

He discovered eight dead elephants near the broken line, which they had apparently damaged near a pool of water that had formed from a leaking pipe. A ninth elephant was near death. Electricians cut off the power flow to try to save it.

‘‘But it was too late, as it died as well,’’ the government statement said.

Botswana, a southern African country, has up to 200,000 elephants, one of the biggest concentrations of African elephants in the world.

future, the company said, would result in Mezger’s dismissal.

Mezger was recorded Saturday by security cameras at Griffin’s home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles shouting profanities and derogatory comments at Griffin and her boyfriend, Randy Bick, after they had called police to complain about noise from Mezger’s backyard. Mezger referred to Griffin using a crude reference to the female anatomy and a disparaging term for lesbians. He also mocked her shaved head, which was a gesture of support for her sister Joyce, who died of cancer last week.

The value of Mezger’s bonus is unclear. Last year, Mezger earned nearly $9 million in total compensation.