Erode: Two people, one of them a woman, had a narrow escape from an elephant attack in a thorn bush near Kadambur in Erode district on Friday.
K Munusamy, 48, and his neighbour P Kannammal, 44, hailing from Sujilkarai village near Kadambur in Sathyamangalam taluk, are working as agricultural coolies.
Munusamy, Kannammal along with eight others went to nearby Thottakanjanur village to attend a funeral. After attending the final rites, they were returning to their village through Kadambur forest.
When they spotted a female elephant coming in the opposite direction in the forest, the villagers started running to escape from the animal.
“The elephant chased them for nearly 1,000 yards. While the rest of them escaped, the elephant caught Munusamy and Kannammal with its trunk and hurled them to the ground,” M Narayanasamy, a villager who witnessed the incident said. “The elephant attacked the duo on their necks and shoulders with its back legs,” Narayanasamy said.
A few minutes later, the elephant went inside the forest. The villagers immediately rushed the duo to the government hospital in Sathyamangalam for treatment. Doctors said that their condition is stable.
“The victims have received bone fractures in their neck and shoulder as the elephant hurled them to the floor,” a doctor said.