COIMBATORE: A farmer was chased and killed by an elephant near Sulagiri in Krishnagiri district on Sunday. In another incident, an omni bus, en route to Munnar, toppled of the road when an elephant suddenly tried to cross the road on Sunday night.
Kanniappan, 55, a farmer in a village near Sulagiri in Krishnagiri district was asleep in his field on Saturday night. He was trying to guard his field, as recent incidences of elephant entering fields had been reported in Sulagiri. An elephant entered the field, but Kanniappan could not tried to flee but the elephant chased him and crushed him. On Sunday morning, Kanniappan’s son visited the field and found his father dead. The police and forest officials were informed and the body was sent for post mortem.
On Sunday night, an omni bus from Bengaluru to Munnar was travelling on the national highway near Krishnagiri. While the bus was crossing the Konarapalli Engineering College on the highway, an elephant suddenly crossed the highway, forcing the driver to apply breaks. As the bus was being driven at a high speed, the driver lost control of the bus and collided with a truck ahead, and skid off the road.
The bus, an air-conditioned sleeper vehicle owned by a Tamil-Nadu based travel company, was carrying 35 passengers. The bus driver Prakash suffered serious injuries and was rushed to the nearby hospital. Some passengers too suffered minor injuries, police said.