Rajdhani mows down 7 jumbos in Assam’s Hojai, 4 of them calves

SANGJURAI: Seven elephants, including four calves, were killed, and another calf was injured when the Delhi-bound Sairang (Mizoram)-New Delhi Rajdhani Express collided with a herd of wild jumbos at Sangjurai village in the Jamunamukh-Kampur section of the Northeast Frontier Railway in central Assam’s Hojai district.

The locomotive and five coaches of the train were also derailed in the collision. Despite the severity of the crash, NFR said no casualties or injuries were reported among the passengers.





The accident occurred in the early hours of Saturday at 2.17am. Among the dead elephants, three were female, and four were male, with one reportedly pregnant at the time of the accident. The elephants were cremated following postmortem examinations. Villagers said the herd consisted of over 50 wild elephants.

The accident site is approximately 126 km from Guwahati.

Interestingly, about 32 km away, between Hawaipur and Lumding stations, the railway track is equipped with an AI-enabled Intrusion Detection System (IDS) in a notified elephant corridor area to prevent train collisions with elephants. Locals said the installation of IDS in the Sangjurai area, which is frequented by wild elephants as a travel route in search of food in nearby villages, could have potentially averted the incident.

CM Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed his sorrow over the incident on social media, stating, “We are deeply saddened by the death of seven elephants — three adults and four calves — in a tragic train collision earlier today. I have directed the Forest Department to conduct a detailed enquiry on this deeply disturbing accident and take steps to further secure our wildlife corridors, particularly during low visibility seasons.”

In response, the forest department seized the rail engine involved in the collision, and the two loco pilots were detained. Shamim Aktar, the range forest officer in Kampur, said forest officials alerted railway authorities about the elephants’ presence. She added that forest guards were vigilant in the Sangjurai area since Friday evening due to the elephants’ movements near the railway tracks. The detained loco pilots were released on a personal bond after 12 hours.

“The station master at Kampur railway station was informed about the potential crossing of the herd near pillar 125, but the incident occurred 700 to 800 metres away from the location. It was not possible to predict the exact movement point of elephants,” Aktar said.

NFR CPRO KK Sharma said, “The incident took place at a location which is not a designated elephant corridor. The loco pilot, on observing the herd of elephants, applied emergency brakes.” However, they were unable to halt the train in time and ended up colliding with the herd, Sharma added.

He said railways did not have any specific information that the elephants were approaching to that particular location where the collision took place.

Local MLA and Barhampur legislator Jitu Goswami, who visited the site, said fog might have contributed to the incident. He emphasised the need for a thorough investigation to determine responsibility for the tragedy.

Locals criticised the lack of designated elephant corridors in the greater Kampur area, which has become a hotspot of human-elephant conflict. Debashish Borah, a local youth, said elephants have been crossing through Sangjurai for years, especially during the paddy harvesting season that starts in Nov.

Nine local passenger trains were cancelled, and several long-distance trains were regulated en route. Although movement continued on the up line, full service restoration was not achieved by Saturday evening. “Accident relief trains and officials from the divisional headquarters are already at the site,” said Sharma.

Helpline numbers — 0361-2731621 / 2731622 / 2731623 — have been activated at Guwahati railway station. Senior railway officers, including the NFR general manager and the divisional railway manager of Lumding, rushed to the site.

“The passengers of the affected coaches have been temporarily accommodated in the vacant berths available in other coaches. The derailment-affected train, after detaching the affected coaches, left the site for Guwahati at 06:11 hrs. Once the train reaches Guwahati, additional coaches will be added to accommodate the passengers of the affected coaches, and the train will resume its journey,” Sharma added.

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