Bhubaneswar: Three persons were killed in separate incidents of elephant attacks in Odisha’s Keonjhar district today. 

Two persons died after they were attacked by a wild tusker at Guali panchayat while the third one got killed by a jumbo at Kalimati under Joda block in Keonjhar.

A few villagers of Guali panchayat, including Santosh Munda and Reena Munda, ventured into the nearby forest to collect saal leaves in the morning.

Suddenly, the tusker attacked Rina and trampled her to death. The pachyderm also chased Santosh and attacked him while he was trying to escape. He also died on the spot, reports said.

The locals immediately informed the incident to the Forest Department. However, the officials concerned took almost four hours to reach the spot.

The angry villagers reportedly gheraoed the officials of the Forest Department and assaulted them. A few officials allegedly sustained injuries in the attack and were rushed to the hospital.

In the second incident, a villager died after he was attacked by a wild elephant at Kalimati under Champua range in the afternoon. The identity of the deceased person is yet to be known.