KANCHANABURI: A villager was seriously hurt after being attacked by a wild elephant in Thong Pha Phum district on Saturday afternoon, police said.
The pachyderm was believed to be the one earlier hit by a Toyota Fortuner. The vehicle overturned in accident, which occurred at about 1.10am between kilometres 194-195 on Highway 323 in tambon Tha Khanun. The driver, a Myanmar national identified later as Yi Teng, was injured.
After the accident, about 40 villagers and officials of the Thong Pha Phum National Park were deployed in teams on Saturday morning to look for the wild elephant, suspecting it might have been hurt.
At about 2pm, one team, which comprised three men, was attacked by the elephant at a spot about 500 metres from the scene of the accident. Tewan Munnut, 26, a team member, was stomped by the animal and seriously hurt.
He bled profusely after his lung was pierced by one of his broken ribs.
Mr Tewan was admitted to Thong Pha Phum Hospital and later referred to Phahon Phonphayuhasena Hospital in Kanchanaburi town.
Suebsai Saksiphit, the Thong Pha Phum district chief, said leaders of communities in the area had been instructed not to allow villagers to forage for food near the Kwai Noi river for fear that the elephant was still in the area.
Police were patrolling Highway 323 and put up signposts to warn motorists to be careful while driving through the area, especially at night. Those who happened to see the elephant were asked to immediately call the Thong Pha Phum police station or 191.
Villagers said the elephant that attacked the villager is male, about 8-10 years old and weighs about 4,000 kilogrammes.