Elephant rammed by train dies in Dhaka’s Uttara

The elephant keeper had tied the two next to the rail tracks, locals say

A train struck an elephant tied by its keeper next to a rail line, leaving the animal dead in Dhaka’s Uttara.

The accident occurred on Wednesday afternoon in Abdullahpur’s Kotbari Rail Gate area, according to a witness. The railway police later confirmed the death of the elephant.

Mahbubur Rahman, the owner of a shoe factory, captured the terrifying moments on video. The video shows the elephant lying on the ground next to the stopped train as someone puts water into its mouth. A severed leg of the elephant was lying next to the rail line. Iron shackles could be seen on the animal’s legs.

“I was heading home after work this afternoon when I saw a train coming from the Dhaka station,” Mahbubur said.

Two elephants were tied next to the rail line and the train rammed one of them. The other elephant was unhurt.

Asked how an elephant got there, Mahbubur said the mahout had left the two animals there to rest.

Ferdous Ahmed Biswas, chief of the Dhaka Railway Police Station, later confirmed the elephant involved in the accident had died.

The Chattula Express, headed from Dhaka to Chattogram, struck the elephant, he said. The animal was removed with a crane and the train was able to depart afterwards.

Ferdous wasn’t able to say why the elephants had been left next to the rail line.

Ali Akbar, the officer on duty at the Airport Police Outpost, was sent to the scene to investigate the incident.