Eight elephants killed as passenger train hits herd in India’s northeast

Eight elephants were killed early on Saturday when a Delhi-bound passenger train struck a herd in India’s northeastern state of Assam, railway authorities said.The collision occurred at about 2.17am local time in Assam’s Hojai district at a site that is not designated as an elephant corridor, local officials added.The impact caused the locomotive and five coaches of the Rajdhani Express to derail, though no passengers were injured, officials said.The train’s driver applied emergency brakes after spotting the herd, but the collision could not be avoided as the elephants moved toward the tracks, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said in a statement.India’s state-run public radio broadcaster Akashvani said heavy fog in the area may also have contributed to the accident.The derailment and the presence of elephant carcasses on the tracks disrupted rail services across parts of Assam and northeastern India. Passengers from the affected coaches were temporarily accommodated in vacant berths in other coaches, officials added.“Trains scheduled to pass through that section are being diverted through another line. Restoration works are on,” NFR said.“Rescue teams are present at the site. The Rajdhani Express coaches have been attached to another engine, and they have left the station now,” the district superintendent of police V V Rakesh Reddy said, according to The Indian Express.The incident has once again highlighted India’s long-running human-wildlife conflict, particularly collisions between trains and elephants.India’s environment ministry told parliament earlier this year that about 80 wild elephants were killed nationwide after being struck by trains between 2020-21 and 2024-25.Among them were three elephants, including a mother and calf, killed in July when a speeding train hit a herd near Paschim Midnapore district in the eastern state of West Bengal.The problem is especially acute in northeastern India, where dozens of elephants are killed each year in train collisions.After the July incident, authorities described the deaths as part of a recurring pattern and said the environment and railway ministries were working to prevent such accidents. Measures include speed restrictions in sensitive areas and the use of seismic sensors to detect elephants near tracks.In some regions, including southern India’s Tamil Nadu, forest and railway officials have also begun piloting AI-based detection systems and sensor networks designed to spot elephants and alert train drivers to slow down.