A young elephant suffocated to death after accidentally falling into an irrigation well in West Midnapore district in West Bengal, a forest department official said on Wednesday.
"The elephant aged between four to five years fell into an irrigation well at Muchiberia village in the district and died at around 3 a.m. on Wednesday. The animal suffocated as the well was extremely narrow," Divisional Forest Officer R.N. Saha told IANS.
He said efforts of the forest officials to extricate the animal out of the well failed due to the structure's narrow girth.
"Locals had gathered and this further impeded our efforts. Finally, it was lifted out with a crane," he added.
The elephant was part of a seven to eight member herd.
--IANS
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