Wild elephant tramples Bihar native near Coimbatore

A construction worker from Bihar suffered injuries after he was attacked by a wild elephant on the compound of the Bharathiar University near Coimbatore on Monday. As the injured worker Manoj Shah (42) was admitted to a private hospital, where a unit of O+ve blood was required, V. Prabakaran of the Forest Department’s Rapid Response Team (RRT) donated blood for the migrant worker’s treatment. The incident happened around 5.30 a.m. on Monday, when Mr. Shah and his friends went to the bushes close to the forest to attend nature’s call. While others managed to escape seeing the tusker, Shah had a close encounter. The tusker trampled him partially on the left side of the abdomen before moving away. He was rescued and admitted to a private hospital. “As the hospital staff told us that a unit of O+ve blood was required for the treatment of the injured worker, Mr. Prabakaran donated blood without a second thought,” said R. Arun Kumar, forest range officer, Coimbatore range. Quoting doctors, Mr. Kumar said the worker’s condition was stable. The official said that movement of wild elephants was very common on the vast campus of the university, especially in places close to the forest boundary. Shah was one of the workers who have been working for the construction of a new building on the campus. “The contractor had arranged toilet facilities for the workers along with their accommodation. However, they went to the jungle-like area close to the forest boundary to ease themselves in the early morning,” added Mr. Kumar.