Picture courtesy of Khaosod.

 

In a tragic incident on September 13, a 71-year-old man lost his life after a sudden encounter with a wild elephant while riding his motorcycle in Kanchanaburi. The incident occurred on Highway 3199, in the Sri Sawat District.

 

Phaitoon Intraboot, head of the Salak Phra Wildlife Sanctuary, reported that the incident took place in the early morning. Local residents alerted wildlife officials stationed at the Mae Lamun Protection Unit that a villager had been severely injured by a wild elephant. The accident happened near the foothills in Village 4, Dan Mae Chaleb Subdistrict.

 

Authorities, along with the village security team and medics from Tha Kradan Hospital, rushed to the scene. They found the victim’s motorcycle overturned in the middle of the road, while the severely injured man was discovered in a roadside ditch. At first, the victim was able to sit up and respond to the officers’ questions.

 

Despite the efforts of emergency responders to transport him to Tha Kradan Hospital, the man, identified as Somkorn, a resident of Village 2, Tha Kradan Subdistrict, succumbed to his injuries en route to the hospital. Preliminary investigations revealed that he had suffered severe internal bleeding, believed to have been caused by the elephant’s attack.

 

 

Authorities suspect that as Somkorn navigated a curve in the road, he failed to notice the elephant ahead in time. Startled, the wild elephant charged at him, knocking him off his motorcycle and stomping on him, resulting in fatal injuries.

 

Somkorn’s relatives have accepted the cause of death, and his body has been handed over to the family for funeral rites.

 

-- 2024-09-14

 

 

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Not a nice way to go RIP

Navigate it to 71 to go out under an elephant.

That's really unlucky, it's not often you hear of elephant incidents.