According to Vavuniya Wildlife Office, two elephants were killed in the early morning by the night mail train which was running to Thalaimannaram in Settikulam Adiyapulyankulam area of Vavuniya.
Wildlife officials say that the accident occurred when the night mail train running from Colombo to Thalaimannarm collided with a herd of elephants trying to cross the railway line at Adiapulyankulam.
However, since the place where the accident took place on the railway line, wild elephants cross the railway line, even though the speed limit was displayed, the wildlife officials further said that the accident was caused by the train driver driving the train at high speed despite it.
The post-mortem examination of the dead elephants is to be carried out by wildlife officials including Northern Province Wildlife Veterinarian B. Giridharan.
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