Elephant Attack: Man Eating In Thailand Restaurant Gored To Death By Elephant

In an unfortunate incident, a 28-year-old man having dinner at a beachside restaurant in Thailand was gored to death by an elephant. According to ABC News Australia, the incident reportedly happened in the coastal city of Rayong, late on Monday. While the identity of the man who was gored to death hasn’t been revealed, it is known that he was a local man employed with the local telecoms company. A colleague of his, who was also dining with him at the time of the elephant attack, was injured in the attack and remains in a hospital. The other man injured in the elephant attack is reportedly 30 years old.

Meanwhile, a report by the Guardian added that the unfortunate victim of the elephant attack was gored in the chest by the out-of-control animal. According to local police Lieutenant Thawat Nongsingha, the two men were talking to the elephant’s mahout when the animal attacked them all of a sudden.

“They were talking to the mahout about buying food for the elephant when it suddenly stabbed one man in the chest with its tusk and kicked the other,” he said.

The mahout has in the meantime been charged with several offenses and was briefly held in police custody and later released. He has been charged with violating local animal legislation and causing death by negligence. If convicted, the mahout could face a $600 fine or a 10-year jail term. The elephant involved in the attack remains under his care for now.

Elephants and elephant attacks are fairly common in Thailand where the animals are highly revered. In fact, there are more domesticated elephants in Thailand (around 4,000) than there are elephants in the wild (estimated to be around 2,500). With number highly skewed in favor of domesticated elephants, the government has banned the capture of wild elephants for entertainment use.

Thailand’s rise as a popular tourism getaway and the banning of the logging industry happened at around the same time. It was after this that several elephants who were used by loggers found themselves doing tricks and entertaining tourists.

As of today, elephants are barred from entering populated areas and urban centers. However, it is not uncommon for tourists to occasionally spot them in towns where they are often used for begging.

The news of this elephant attack comes less than a week after the Inquisitr reported about a man in Germany who was killed by a runaway circus elephant.

[Image Via Phys.Org]