RailEnquiry

GUWAHATI: An elephant crossing the railway track at Deepor Beel area, about 15km from here on Saturday night, was hit by a moving train. Though the animal survived and later walked to the Rani-Garbhanga reserved forest, the incident once again brought to the fore the precarious condition of elephants while crossing railway tracks.Forest officials said three elephants were trying to cross the railway track. While two managed to cross, one was hit by the train. "We flashed red lights to alert the driver to stop as we noticed movement of elephants and The train was travelling at a very low speed when the accident too place. The elephant is seriously injured and it walked back to the forest," one guard said.On Sunday, forest staff launched a search for the injured elephant in the reserved forest, but could not trace it yet. A senior railway official however, said the train drivers was following the rules and alert while passing through the elephant habitat. He said that unlike cars, a moving train cannot be stopped instantly and drivers always blow horn to drive away animals from the tracks.This is not the first time an elephant was hit by a train here. Last year three elephants were knocked down to death by speeding train at Deepor Beel. Elephants frequently cross the tracks to reach the Deepor Beel wetland. On Saturday, a herd of 25 elephants spent the entire day in the wetland.