A wild elephant has rampaged through an east Indian town, smashing cars and homes and sending panicked people running before it was tranquillised and returned to the forest.
As the frightened elephant ran amok, trampling parked cars and motorbikes, crowds of people gathered to watch from balconies and roof tops, with some even following from a distance as the elephant moved through the streets.
Papaiya Sarkar, a 40-year-old witness watched the elephant amble down a street near her home.
"The elephant was scared and was trying to go back to the jungle," she said.
Elephant Rampage in Siliguri, India
The elephant had wandered from the Baikunthapur forest, crossing roads and a small river before entering the town of Siliguri in West Bengal state.
Divisional forest officer Basab Rai said the female elephant appeared to be a loner without a herd, and was probably searching for food when it strayed into the town.
He said it did not attack any people, but appeared to be afraid of them.
After several hours, it became clear the elephant was unable to find its way back to the jungle, and forest officers stepped in to help.
Authorities eventually shot the elephant three times with a tranquilliser gun and used a crane to lift it into a truck once it had calmed down.
It was then taken to a park for domesticated elephants that is maintained by the forest department, and would be returned to the forest once the tranquillisier wore off, Mr Rai said.
Elephants are increasingly coming into contact with people in India, as the human population of 1.25 billion soars and cities and towns grow at the expense of jungles and other elephant habitats. In India and Sri Lanka, more than 400 elephants and 250 humans are killed each year.
On Wednesday, another wild elephant trampled a farmer to death in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The farmer had been sleeping in his field when the elephant appeared, police told Press Trust of India.
