Two elephants die after being hit by goods train in Odisha

Two elephants were killedafter being hit by a goods train in Rourkela forest divisionarea in Odisha's Sundargarh district, officials said onThursday.

The incident took place on Wednesday night when thejumbos were crossing the railway tracks on the Howrah-Mumbairoute near Mahipani in Bisra region, they said.

The movement of trains on the route was affected for afew hours following the incident, a South Eastern Railwayofficial said.

''The goods train was going towards Shalimar fromNashik when the accident happened. Restoration works have beencompleted and the train services resumed,'' Bangamundaassistant station master Nishant Kumar said.

The incident has triggered a blame game between thestate forest department and the railway authorities.

Rourkela division's assistant conservator of forestTankadhar Behera said, ''Our officials made attempts to stopthe train which was passing through the elephant zone at a 90-km per hour speed. We tried to inform the driver about thepresence of the jumbos.'' PTI AAMBDC BDC