Two women killed in elephant attack in Indonesia: official

Agence France Press
January 28, 2009


BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AFP) — Two women were crushed to death when wild elephants attacked villagers in Indonesia's Aceh province, an official said Wednesday.
The two women were killed Tuesday when a pair of elephants trampled the hut in which they were sitting in a field outside the village of Jok in Aceh, a province at the northern end of Sumatra island, local district head Azahari Yacob told AFP.
"One woman was killed at the location and another one passed away on the way to the hospital," Yacob said.
"This is the first incident in the area. Before this, no elephants had come in and disturbed the community."
The provincial conservation agency sent a team including four tame elephants to chase away the wild elephants, Yacob said, adding that frightened villagers refused to return to the fields.
Conflicts between wild animals and humans have long been on the rise on Sumatra, where legal and illegal logging is rapidly reducing the tropical jungle.
The number of Sumatran elephants is also declining, with only 2,440 to 3,350 left in the wild, according to environmental group WWF.

For the full article click on the story title