04.05.2026 04:52
Elephants went out of control during blessing ceremonies at temples in India's Kerala state. The giant animals, breaking free from their chains, crushed two people to death and wrecked vehicles. At the Mahavishnu Temple, an elephant guarded its dead driver's body for two hours, not allowing anyone to approach.
India's Kerala state was shaken by a series of elephant attacks during consecration ceremonies held at Hindu temples. After breaking their chains, massive elephants became aggressive, resulting in two deaths and the destruction of many vehicles and surrounding structures.
CRUSHED ITS DRIVER, STOOD GUARD OVER HIS BODY
An elephant brought to the region by truck for a ceremony at the Mahavishnu Temple in Kerala went out of control for an undetermined reason. Breaking free from its chains, the giant animal first targeted its 40-year-old driver who had transported it to the temple. After crushing the unfortunate man to death, the elephant terrorized the area for about two hours, attacking nearby vehicles and trees.
In horrifying images reflected on social media, the elephant was seen piercing a parked car with its tusks and tipping it over. Medical teams struggled to intervene in the area because the aggressive animal waited for a long time beside the body of its killed driver and attacked anyone who tried to approach.
STOPPED WITH A TRANQUILIZER DART
It was reported that one person was also injured during the incident and taken to the hospital. The elephant, which caused great panic in the area, was only neutralized by expert teams through a tranquilizer dart intervention. The subdued animal was tied to a nearby coconut tree for safety and placed under protection.
ANOTHER TRAGEDY ON THE SAME DAY
The horror in Kerala state was not limited to the Mahavishnu Temple. On the same day, a similar tragedy occurred at the Kudalmanikyam Temple in the city of Irinjalakuda. A 25-year-old assistant trainer was seriously injured after being crushed under an elephant during the ceremony. Despite all medical interventions, the young trainer could not be saved and died.
The use of elephants in regional temple ceremonies and security measures have been reopened for debate following these successive fatal accidents.