Six people killed in three-car crash in Thailand caused by wild elephant

A police official in Thailand said the elephant had come down from a mountain and was probably searching for food when a van crashed into it.

Rescue workers inspect the site where a vehicle crashed with an elephant at a roadside in Rayong province, east of Bangkok, Thailand on March 12. Six people were killed. Thai news reported that the elephant broke its legs. ReutersShow less

BANGKOK // Six people were killed in Thailand in a three-vehicle accident when a van crashed into a wild elephant crossing a road in pre-dawn darkness on Wednesday, a hospital official said.

All four occupants of the van, including a Singaporean man, were killed when the van crashed into the elephant and then veered off the road, police said. Two people died in a car that rammed into a truck that had stopped at the scene.

“The elephant came down from the mountain where there’s drought so it was probably searching for food,” said police officer Teerawat Permwattanachaikul in the eastern province of Rayong.

“You can’t really see elephants at night because their colour is so dim.”

The elephant, part of a group of three, was badly hurt and later died, Teerawat said.

* Reuters