Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed on Saturday, as they were struck by a high-speed train as they attempted to cross a railway track in Assam, in northeastern India. 

The train driver spotted a herd of about 100 elephants. He deployed the emergency brakes but still hit some animals, Indian Railways spokesperson Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told the Associated Press news agency.

Initially, eight elephants were reported to have been killed, but officials later found one was alive but injured, Indian News agency Press Trust of India reported.

More about the collision

Five of the train's coaches derailed on impact, but none of the 650 passengers onboard were harmed, Sharma said. 

"We delinked the coaches which were not derailed, and the train resumed its journey for New Delhi. Around 200 passengers who were in the five derailed coaches have been moved to Guwahati in a different train," Sharma said. 

Train Services to upper Assam and other parts of the Northeast were affected as elephant body parts were scattered on he tracks, Indian News channel NDTV reported citing unnamed sources. 

Elephant collisions in India not a rarity

Indian authorities said the collision did not occur at a location designated as an elephant corridor.

The north-eastern state of Assam is home to India's second largest elephant population and the largest in North India. The state experiences some of the highest levels of human-elephant conflict in the country as deforestation fragments the giant's natural habitat. 

India has seen a total of 81 wild elephants killed in train collisions between 2019 and 2024, data released by the India's Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change shows. 

Edited by: Rana Taha