A speeding passenger train on Tuesday killed an elephant as it tried to cross a railway track cutting through a dense forest area in eastern India.
The train rammed into the animal near the Buxa nature reserve in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district. The elephant died on the spot from the impact of the collision.u00a0
Pic/ AFP
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Police arrested a number of passengers who got out of the train with the intention of taking away the tusks. Train services were disrupted for some time after the accident.
India is home to around 25,000 Asian elephants but their numbers are dwindling mainly due to poaching and the destruction of their habitats by human populations. u00a0
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