Speeding train runs over elephant, bluebuck near Uttarakhand's Kotdwar

Kotdwar: An elephant and a bluebuck died on Monday morning after being run over by an express train near the Kotdwar railway station in Uttarakhand, officials said.

The accident occurred about 1.5 km away from the Kotdwar railway station around 5 am, Sub Divisional Officer of Najibabad Division Rajiv Kumar said.

The animals were knocked down by the newly launched express train that runs between Kotdwar and Delhi when they suddenly came on the tracks, Kumar said.

Forest officials said the train must have been at a speed of more than 100 kmph at the time of the accident.

The speeding train hit the bluebuck (neelgai) first at gate no 16 and then the elephant about 700 metres from there, Kumar said, adding that the elephant was aged about 10 years.

An electric pole was also damaged in the accident, he said. The elephant was buried after a post-mortem conducted by a team of three doctors, he added.

Kumar said a letter has been written to the Indian Railways requesting it to impose a speed limit on trains running on this route.