NEW DELHI, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed and 30 others injured, some of them critically, after two captive elephants went berserk triggering a stampede during a festival at a temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala, police said Friday.
The incident took place Thursday evening at the Manakulangara Temple near Koyilandy in Kozhikode district, about 422 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala.
According to officials, the elephants brought to the temple as part of celebrations got agitated following the bursting of firecrackers during a festival.
"Following the bursting of firecrackers, the two elephants engaged in a fight and in the frenzy hit the building, causing a portion of its wall to collapse, which led to some people getting trapped underneath it," a police official said. "The collapse of the wall has resulted in the death of the two women and a man. Witnessing this, a panic triggered among the devotees present there leading to a stampede in which 30 persons suffered injuries."
Television images show the two decorated elephants fighting each other and smashing the barricades. It also shows one elephant chasing another with their mahouts clinging to them as people present there run for safety. ■
