Seven elephants died in northeast India when a passenger train collided with a herd of pachyderms, authorities said on Saturday (December 20, 2025). No travelers were injured in the accident in Assam state, where about 4,000 of India’s 22,000 elephants live in the wild.
A senior Assam police official, VV Rakesh Reddy, told AFP that seven elephants were killed and an eighth injured. The train was traveling from the remote state of Mizoram in northeast India to New Delhi. Five cars derailed. The collision, which occurred at 2:17 a.m. (Friday 9:47 p.m. CET), disrupted rail traffic. “The trains that were supposed to pass through this section will be diverted to another route. Rehabilitation work is currently underway,” the railway company said.
“The driver applied the emergency brake”
The Indian authorities introduced speed limits in the canyons where elephants move. However, this latest accident occurred outside these areas, said Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, a spokesman for Indian Railways. “When the driver saw the herd of elephants, he applied the emergency brake. But the train crashed into the elephants,” he explained.
Deforestation and real estate activities near their habitat force pachyderms to venture further afield in search of food, exposing them to conflict situations with humans. According to Parliament, 629 people died in accidents involving elephants across India in 2023 and 2024. A similar derailment occurred in Sri Lanka in February. Train accidents in India are also not uncommon, such as in June 2023 with more than 280 deaths.
LGC (AFP, RTR)
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