Seven elephants were killed by a speeding freight train as they crossed a railway track in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, news reports said Thursday, according to dpa. The herd was crossing the track in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal late Wednesday when the accident took place, PTI news agency reported citing Forest Department officials. Two baby elephants were trapped while crossing the rail track and several members of the herd came to their rescue when the freight train hit them, forest official Sunita Ghatak was quoted as saying. She said five elephants died on the spot while two others died of their injuries Thursday. Another injured elephant was being treated. Trains on the line that connects New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal to adjoining Assam state were suspended for several hours. The elephants were crossing the track to move from one forest to another. Rail tracks in India often run through reserve forest land and railways have been asked to restrict the speed of trains on these routes to 40 kilometres per hour. An elephant was killed by a train near the same spot in June. There have been more than 118 elephant deaths in India due to train hits since 1987, according to the Wildlife Trust of India. India is estimated to have a population of 26,000 wild elephants.
