CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh — A herd of wild elephants rampaged through a remote, hillside village in southeastern Bangladesh, killing one boy, villagers said Thursday.
The incident occurred while a group of villagers confronted a herd of about 10 elephants that damaged crops late Wednesday in Chittagong district, 216 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of the capital, Dhaka, resident Delwar Hossain said.
He said the villagers tried to scare the elephants away by beating drums and using firecrackers and then left the area, which borders Myanmar. A 10-year-old boy who lingered behind, however, was crushed to death by the elephants, Hossain said.
Several hundred elephants make their homes in Bangladesh’s tropical forests, but their habitat has been reduced in recent years due to human development, occasionally causing elephants to invade residential areas for food, Bangladeshi expert Ainun Nishat said last month.
The country has about 250 wild elephants in its tropical forests, he said.
Last month, a herd of wild elephants killed five members of a family in the same district.
About three dozen people have been killed over the past few years by the wild elephants in the country’s northern Sherpur district, which is close to the forested border with India.
Residents in many Bangladeshi villages along its border with India use firecrackers at night and beat drums to scare away elephants, which have been known to attack villagers, damage crops and flatten trees.
