OD-LD ELEPHANTS

Three elephants killed after being hit by truck in Odisha
    (Eds: Updating toll)
    Keonjhar, Aug 22 (PTI) Three elephants were killed
after being hit by a truck on a national highway in Odisha's
Keonjhar district early on Thursday, a forest official said.
    The pachyderms were crossing NH-20 near Balijodi area
under Ghatagaon forest range, when the iron ore-laden truck
knocked them down around 3am, he said.
    "A female elephant, aged around 16, and a one-year-old
calf died on the spot, while another female, which had
sustained critical injuries, died during treatment," Ashok
Kumar Nayak, the Ghatagaon Forest Range Officer, said.
    Senior officials, including Keonjhar Divisional Forest
Officer Santosh Joshi, had rushed to the spot following the
incident to provide aid to the injured pachyderm, aged a
little over 16, Nayak explained.
    Arrangements have been made for conducting the autopsy
of the deceased elephants, he said.
    The truck, which skidded off the road after the
accident, has been seized, the forest range officer said,
adding that the driver fled the scene abandoning the vehicle
but his helper has been detained. PTI COR SKN
RMS RMS

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from a PTI feed.)