Elephant rams into moving train in Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary; no casualties reported

An adult wild elephant repeatedly rammed into a moving train last night (22 July) as the Shoikat Express was passing through the Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary in Chattogram's Lohagara upazila. The incident, which caused panic among passengers, fortunately did not result in any casualties or injuries.

The event took place around 10:30pm, about a kilometer from the Chunati elephant overpass, near the Chunati range office, confirmed Nur Jahan, Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation Officer at the sanctuary.

"Both ends of the overpass are fenced," Nur Jahan told TBS. "But there is a nearly 600-meter unfenced stretch, through which wild elephants often cross the railway line."

According to her, yesterday night, an adult elephant was trying to cross the tracks from the west to the east side through this open segment. Spotting the oncoming train, the elephant panicked. As the train was moving slowly at the time, passengers began screaming in fear, which further agitated the elephant. It then started striking the train's coaches.

"Luckily, because the train was moving slowly, neither the elephant nor any passengers were injured," she added. "Hearing the elephant's cries, forest officials quickly reached the spot and managed to drive it away."

Nur Jahan noted that after a juvenile elephant was killed by a train in October last year, officials had urged the railway authorities to install fencing along the remaining open stretch. "Unfortunately, no action was taken, and now another such incident has occurred," she said.

When contacted, Bangladesh Railway East Zone's General Manager Mohammad Subaktagin told TBS that approximately 10 kilometers of fencing have already been installed to prevent elephants from accessing the tracks.

"There is still a 600-meter gap where some cattle farms were previously located. As elephants were not observed in that area, no fencing was done. But recently, the farms have been removed, leading to increased elephant movement. We are currently working to fence that portion as well," he said.

He added, "Generally, elephants use the designated overpasses and underpasses to cross the railway. Occasionally, one or two may cross directly. However, over time, they are becoming more accustomed to the new infrastructure."

Subaktagin also noted that since the death of the juvenile elephant last year, train speed has been reduced while passing through the forest to prevent further accidents.