COLOMBO:  , A Sri Lankan passenger train derailed on Thursday ( Feb 20 ) after smashing into a family of elephants, with no passengers injured but six animals killed in the island’s worst such wildlife accident, police said.
The express train struck the flock while crossing the line at around dawn while it was passing a wildlife reserve in Habarana, 180 kilometers south of Colombo.
” The coach derailed, but there were no deaths among the people”, police said, adding that wildlife officials were treating two animals who survived the crash.
One elephant was seen watching over an damaged youngster lying beside the songs, with the recommendations of their trunks curled up, in videos taken after the incident.
Killing or harming animals is a criminal infraction in Sri Lanka, which has an estimated 7, 000 wild animals, with the creatures considered a national treasure, largely due to their significance in Buddhist traditions.
In the same location, in September 2018, a train struck two baby elephants and their expectant mother.
Since then, the government have mandated that coach drivers keep to a speed limit to protect elephants from harm when crossing the line.