Two elephants were reportedly killed when a goods train ran over them while they were crossing the railway tracks at Daitari in Odisha’s Keonjhar district on Monday night.

The area comes under the Anandapur forest division of Keonjhar.

Official sources said a herd of five elephants was crossing the tracks near the Ambadhara canal between Tangiriapal and Sagadapatta when a goods train hit them.

Two out of the five had crossed the track when the accident took place. While two elephants died on the spot, another sustained grievous injuries. The senior forest officials rushed to the spot.

A similar accident took place at Bansapani in Keonjhar in May 2022 when three elephants were mowed down by a running train.

The incident had sent shockwaves through the state with the forest department and railway ministry deciding to work in tandem to avoid such accidents.

According to the statistics, the state has reported 784 elephant deaths in a span of 10 years between 2012-13 and 2021-22. As per the state government figure, 82 elephants died in 2012-13 and 86 died in 2021-22.

Aid for students

The Odisha government will provide a one-time financial assistance of Rs 50,000 to scheduled tribe and scheduled caste students from poor families for pursuing general degree course in any state-run institution, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said on Tuesday, reports PTI.

The chief minister made the announcement while presiding over a Tribal Advisory Council meeting here.