Elephants pull down mud house: 2 children killed

Two children of a family were killed and their grandmother was injured in wall collapse when their mud house was pulled down by a herd of elephants at Domunda on Thursday, a forest official said.

The elephants had gone to the village, about 45 km from the district headquarters, in search of food. Since paddy was stored in house, the animals pulled down the house at about 3 am when the victims were sleeping.

The two children died on the spot and their grandmother was seriously injured, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Saurabh Chandra said.

The deceased were identified as Sanjit Malhar(5), son of Binod Malhar, and Chintamani Kumari (12), daughter of Kisto Malhar.

Their injured grandmother Kumudni Devi (50) was admitted to the Patliputra Medical College Hospital.

The Ranger of Tundi forest Shambhu Prasad Gupta said that families of the victims were paid Rs. 25,000 each. The government grant of Rs. 4 lakh each would be paid after completion of official formalities.

The forest department has sent two teams to the village to drive out the elephants, officials said, adding that prior to the incident 18 elephants were seen moving around the neighbouring areas for the past six days.