Boy trampled to death by elephant in India

A 12-year-old boy was trampled to death by an elephant in India after he and other boys provoked the animal, police say.

A group of seven boys spotted the elephant on Sunday outside the city of Bangalore and began following it, the Times of India reports.

One of the boys told Taverekere police that another boy, identified only as Karthik, tried to pull the elephant’s tail and it kicked him in response, according to the Deccan Herald.

As Karthik tried to run away from the elephant, he fell into a ditch and was trampled.

“The elephant had stepped on his face and he suffered multiple fractures," Taverekere police said in a statement, according to the Times of India.

Authorities chased the elephant out of the area and they expect it to return to the forest.