Several elephants killed in train collision as impact causes multiple coaches to derail

A high-speed passenger train plowed into a herd of elephants in northeastern India early Saturday, killing seven elephants and injuring a calf.

The Rajdhani Express, which was carrying around 650 passengers, was traveling through Assam when its driver spotted about 100 wild Asiatic elephants crossing the tracks and applied the emergency brakes. 

Despite the effort, the train collided with several of the endangered animals, The Associated Press reported.

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The impact caused the engine and five coaches to derail. 

None of the train’s passengers, who were traveling from Sairang in Mizoram state to New Delhi, were harmed in the incident, AP reported.

“We delinked the coaches which were not derailed, and the train resumed its journey for New Delhi,” Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told AP. “Around 200 passengers who were in the five derailed coaches have been moved to Guwahati in a different train.”

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Veterinarians later conducted autopsies on the elephants. 

They were scheduled to be buried later in the day on Saturday, according to AP.

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Assam is home to an estimated 7,000 wild Asiatic elephants, and train-related deaths have been an ongoing issue. 

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At least a dozen elephants have been killed on railway tracks in the state since 2020, AP reported.

Asiatic elephants are considered endangered, and there are currently only an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 left in the wild, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.