Villagers in Gondwar had been warned. Forest staff drove through Churchu block on Thursday night with a public address system, telling people a herd of wild elephants was coming. Six of them still died, trampled as they ran from their homes.
Vikas Kumar Ujjwal, the Hazaribag East Divisional Forest Officer, laid out what happened. “We had alerted villagers through the public address system as the herd entered the block. Unfortunately, when people tried to flee from their homes, six of them were trampled to death,” he said. The killings took place in the early hours of February 13, in Hazaribag district, Jharkhand.
Four of the dead belonged to one family. A child was also seriously injured and is being treated at Sadar Hospital in Hazaribag.
“Among those killed were four members of a family,” Ujjwal said.
A herd on the move
The animals had been moving through Bokaro, Ramgarh and Hazaribag districts for several days. Ujjwal said they had already caused casualties in Bokaro before reaching Gondwar.
Poonam Devi, a relative of the deceased, said two children had been left by themselves when the elephants arrived, and that the animals trampled them.
Another official said the process of paying compensation of ₹four lakh each to the victims’ kin has begun.
