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Several elephants killed in train crash after impact causes multiple coaches to derail
By Sophia Compton
Published December 20, 2025
A high-speed passenger train plowed into a herd of elephants in northeastern India early Saturday, killing seven elephants and injuring a calf.
The Rajdhani Express, which was carrying around 650 passengers, was traveling through Assam when its driver spotted about 100 wild Asiatic elephants crossing the tracks and applied the emergency brakes.
Despite the effort, the train collided with several of the endangered animals, The Associated Press reported.
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Passengers on a train look at the carcass of an Asiatic wild elephant being removed from a railway track after a speeding train hit a herd of wild elephants in Changjurai village, east of Guwahati, India, Saturday. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
The impact caused the engine and five coaches to derail.
None of the train's passengers, who were traveling from Sairang in Mizoram state to New Delhi, were harmed in the incident, the AP reported.
"We delinked the coaches which were not derailed, and the train resumed its journey for New Delhi," Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told the AP. "Around 200 passengers who were in the five derailed coaches have been moved to Guwahati in a different train."
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Railway staff, workers and police restore train service after a herd was struck by the Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express in Hojai District, Assam, Saturday. (Anuwar Hazarika/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Veterinarians later conducted necropsies on the elephants.
They were scheduled to be buried later in the day Saturday, according to the AP.
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A herd of wild elephants gathers near a field in search of food in Nagaon district, Assam, India, Nov. 21, 2025. (Anuwar Hazarika/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Assam is home to an estimated 7,000 wild Asiatic elephants, and train-related deaths have been an ongoing issue.
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At least a dozen elephants have been killed on railway tracks in the state since 2020, AP reported.
Asiatic elephants are considered endangered, and there are only an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 left in the wild, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/several-elephants-killed-train-collision-impact-causes-multiple-coaches-derail