10 injured after elephant runs amok

TEN people were injured after an elephant went on a rampage during an ordination ceremony at a temple in Buriram province, local officials and residents said.

The elephant stomped an elderly woman on her hip and severely injured her, while another woman – Supranee Maliwan, 61 – said her arm was broken in the attack.

Supranee said more than 1,000 people had gathered for the ceremony in front of Wat Nong Tat in the province’s Lam Plai Mat district on Saturday.

She was standing in front of the three elephants brought to the ceremony and could not jump out of the way in time when one of them attacked.

The 10 victims were sent to hospital for treatment.

Pranom Chaitrong, 63, blamed children for the rampage, saying they ran around the elephant as the ceremony’s host offered alms.

“Some children collected alms near the elephants even though the host warned people to stay away from them,” she said.

Pranom said she asked the host to stop bringing elephants to ordination ceremonies to prevent such attacks from happening again. — The Nation/ANN