A passenger train derailed after hitting a herd of elephants near a wildlife sanctuary in central Sri Lanka in the early hours of Thursday.
According to foreign media, while no injuries were reported among the passengers, six elephants died in the accident in Habarana, east of the capital Colombo.
Two injured elephants were being treated, police said, noting that this was the worst such wildlife accident the country had seen, AFP reported.
It is not uncommon for trains to collide with herds of elephants in Sri Lanka, where the human-elephant toll on both sides of the collision is among the highest in the world.
Last year, more than 170 people and nearly 500 elephants were killed in such accidents, and about 20 elephants are killed by trains every year, according to local media.
Elephants, whose natural habitats are affected by deforestation and resource depletion, have increasingly strayed into areas of human activity.
Some have asked train drivers to slow down and blow train horns to warn animals ahead on the railroad tracks, writes A2 CNN.
In 2018, a pregnant elephant and her two calves died in a similar manner in Habarana after being hit by a train. The three had been part of a larger herd that crossed the train tracks at dawn.
Last October, another train crashed into a herd in Minneriya, about 25 km from Habarana, killing two elephants and injuring one.
There are about 7,000 wild elephants in Sri Lanka, where the animals, revered by the Buddhist majority, are protected by law. Killing an elephant is a crime punishable by imprisonment or a fine. (A2 Televizion)
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