Two sisters trampled to death by tusker

Rourkela: Two sisters were trampled to death by a wild elephant after it at-tacked their house in Sundargarh district on Sunday, officials said.

The incident happened at Kantapalli village in Tamada range of Bonai forest division.

The deceased were identified as Samiya Munda (12) and her sister Chandni Munda (3). The two girls were sleeping when the elephant attacked their kuchcha house and brought down a portion of it. When the adults saw the el-ephant, they fled, but the girls, who were asleep, were left behind amid the commotion. The tusker trampled the girls to death.

Divisional Forest Officer Lalit Patra said, “We are keeping a close watch on the elephant as it is roaming in the area. It is a lone tusker, which probably separated from its herd.” The elephant has a radio collar but could not be tracked as the service provider of the GSM SIM card in it does not have net-work in the area, he said. The government would provide compensation to the family members of the deceased, he added.