Train hits elephant herd in northeastern India, kills 7 elephants
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A high-speed passenger train plowed into a herd of elephants in northeastern India early on Saturday, killing seven elephants and injuring a calf.
The Rajdhani Express, carrying around 650 passengers, was traveling in Assam when its driver noticed around 100 wild Asian elephants crossing the tracks and applied the emergency brake.
The Associated Press reported that despite all efforts, the train collided with endangered animals. reported.
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Passengers on a train watch the carcass of an Asian wild elephant being removed from the railway track after a high-speed train crashed into a herd of wild elephants in Changjurai village, east of Guwahati, India, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Due to the impact, the engine and five wagons derailed.
According to the AP report, none of the train passengers traveling from Sairang in Mizoram state to New Delhi were harmed in the incident.
“We disconnected the coaches that did not derail and the train continued its journey towards New Delhi,” Indian Railways spokesperson Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told AP. “Around 200 passengers in the five derailed coaches were transported to Guwahati by a different train.”
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Railway staff, workers and police resumed train services after the Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express hit a herd in Assam’s Hojai District on Saturday. (Anuwar Hazarika/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Veterinarians later performed autopsies on the elephants.
They were scheduled to be buried later Saturday, according to the AP.
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A herd of wild elephants gathers near a field in search of food in Nagaon district of Assam, India, November 21, 2025. (Anuwar Hazarika/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Assam is home to an estimated 7,000 wild Asian elephants, and train-related deaths are an ongoing problem.
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At least a dozen elephants have been killed on railway tracks in the state since 2020, AP reported.
Asian elephants are considered endangered, and only about 30,000 to 50,000 are estimated to remain in the wild, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
