Train hits female jumbo near Kovai

Coimbatore: A female elephant was killed by a speeding train in the elephant corridor at Marapalam near Madukarai on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border early on Monday morning. Over the last eight years, at least 10 elephants have been hit and killed on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border near Coimbatore.

Despite caution boards put up by the Forest department urging the Railways to maintain a speed limit of 30kms in the elephant corridor, the speeding Kocheveli Express headed for Ernakulam knocked down the female elephant. Forest officials said the female elephant is estimated to be around 35 years old.

Around 2 am, the Kochuveli Express heading for Ernakulum in Kerala from Bengaluru was nearing Marapalam when the female elephant, leading a 7-member female herd, walked towards the track. As there was a thick overgrowth of bushes for about 300 metres on both sides of the track, the loco pilot did not notice the elephant advancing towards the track.

The female elephant just jutted its face out of the bush and was hit by the front portion of the loco engine. The rest of the herd remained in the bushes after their lucky escape.  Meanwhile, the elephant was thrown into the small concrete drain a few feet away from the railway track. A crane was brought in around 9 am and within 15 minutes the dead elephant was cleared from near the track.