Mahout’s son dies after being attacked by Topslip camp elephant

COIMBATORE: A 27-year-old man, who had been staying at the settlement near the elephant camp at Kozhikamudhi near Topslip, died early on Thursday morning in Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), after he was attacked by an elephant in the camp on Tuesday.

Officials in the camp identified the decease man as Ayyappan, son of Karuppusamy, who is a mahout for one of the elephants at the camp. “Ayyappan was not an employee of the forest department. He was staying in the settlement near the camp,” said the official.

On Tuesday afternoon, he entered the camp and went near Durga, an elephant at the camp, said the official. “The elephant pushed him down and he sustained injuries on his chest and arms. On receiving the information we sent for our ambulance and he was taken to the primary health centre nearby within half an hour, where he was given first aid,” said the official.

Following this, he was taken to the hospital in nearby Pollachi. “But as there was no MRI scan facility at the hospital, doctors there referred him to CMCH and he was taken there on Wednesday. He was being treated there, but without responding to the treatment, he died around 5.00am on Thursday,” said the official.

The elephant camp has 25 elephants and each elephant has two people to take care of it, a mahout and a helper, said officials. The elephant which had attacked Ayyappan was normal now did not need any special attention, the official said.

The incident where an elephant from the camp has attacked a person is the first in more than a decade, said officials. “In 2008, a relative of an employee who had come to the settlement for a festival, had come to the camp. The person was attacked by an elephant and died. After that this is the only such incident,” said the official.