Wild elephant kills man near Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: A 36-year-old man was killed by a male elephant which strayed into agricultural fields at Mangarai in Thadagam Valley in Coimbatore district.
The deceased has been identified as P Mahesh Kumar, 36, of 24 Veerapandi. He was staying in a piece of and belonging to his father-in-law, which is located 500 metre away from the Mangarai forest area.
Mahesh was attacked by the elephant when he tried to chase it away by bursting crackers. He suffered injuries on his chest and fractures on his hands. The incident took place around 2.45 am on Thursday, said a forest officer.
On being alerted, a forest team reached the spot and chased the elephant back into the forest. A police team from the Thadagam station shifted the body to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for a postmortem.
The police registered a case and conducted an inquiry.