Three elephants die of goods train collision in North Bengal

Kolkata : Three elephants died on Monday morning at Rajabhat Khawa in Alipurduar district of West Bengal following a collision with a goods train. The three elephants, a mother and her two babies, died on the spot.

The state forest department sources said that the collision with the good train bound for Siliguri happened on Monday morning as the three elephants were crossing the rail corridors at Rajabhat Khawa.

The Railways and state forest department officials quickly rushed to the spot and train services in the corridor were disrupted for quite some time after the accident. The engine of the goods train has been seized for examination. Medical tests of the loco-pilots will also be conducted to check whether they were intoxicated at the time of the accident.

Earlier this year, the Railways had announced installation of Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) on the Railway tracks passing through the elephant corridors, so that the loco-pilots could be alerted in case of the presence of elephants near the railway tracks.

In August this year a pregnant elephant died in West Bengal following a collision with a train. There had been several rounds of discussion between the Railways and state forest department officials on this count.