A high-speed Rajdhani Express has collided with a herd of approximately 100 elephants in Assam’s Hojai district, killing eight animals and derailing five coaches in a devastating midnight accident.
Eight wild Asiatic elephants were killed and one calf was severely injured when the Sairang New Delhi Rajdhani Express struck a herd crossing the tracks in the early hours of Saturday (20 December). The impact caused the locomotive and five passenger coaches to jump the tracks near the Jamunamukh Kampur section of the Northeast Frontier Railway. While the derailment left the train mangled, officials confirmed that none of the approximately 1,200 passengers on board were injured.
The accident happened at around 02:17 IST near Changjurai village, about 126 km from Guwahati. The loco pilot reportedly spotted a massive herd of nearly 100 elephants on the tracks and hit the emergency brakes, but the momentum of the high-speed train made a collision unavoidable. The force of the impact was so powerful it scattered the animals across the track bed and twisted the heavy locomotive engine.
NFR authorities noted that the incident site isn’t a designated elephant corridor, which may explain why no specific speed restrictions were in place. But local forest officials and NGOs said herds have been active in the area recently, likely drawn to nearby rice fields ready for harvest. One injured elephant calf was rescued from the wreckage and is currently under intensive veterinary care for broken limbs.
Emergency relief trains from Lumding and Guwahati arrived by 04:00 AM. Passengers from the derailed coaches were moved to vacant berths in the unaffected part of the train, which resumed its journey toward Guwahati at 06:11 AM after detaching the damaged segments.
“The loco pilot, on observing the herd of elephants, applied emergency brakes. However, elephants dashed into the train,” said Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer of the Northeast Frontier Railway.
“Inter-departmental coordination falls short; real-time elephant tracking could avert such losses,” Bibhab Talukdar, CEO of the NGO Aaranyak, said, calling for more proactive technology-based solutions.
Assam is home to nearly 7,000 wild Asiatic elephants, and train-animal collisions are an ongoing crisis. Since 2020, at least a dozen elephants have been killed by speeding trains in the state. While AI-based surveillance systems (Intrusion Detection Systems) have been installed in some corridors, this tragedy highlights the danger of herds wandering into non-monitored “non-corridor” areas.
A high-level investigation into the collision and the failure of any early warning systems has been launched. For now, all trains through the Jamunamukh–Kampur section are being diverted through the ‘UP’ line as restoration of the primary track continues.
Also Read / Train Services Disrupted in Delhi as Two Coaches Derail at Shakur Basti.
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