Rourkela:Panic gripped local residents following the death of an elderly woman after she was attacked by an elephant in a residential area in Rourkela in Odisha's Sundargarh district today. The incident took place in Koel Nagar in the wee hours at around 3 am. 

The deceased woman was identified as 79 year-old Purnima Dastia. She was plucking flowers for her morning rituals outside her home when the mishap occured. 

As per reports, a herd of elephants had strayed into Barakani village in Bondamunda but were driven away by residents. One of them,however, got separated and came back to the area from Sona Parbat. When locals spotted the lone elephant on the main road near Kendriya Vidyalaya in the city, they alerted the Forest department. 

Elephant entered Koel Nagar after being diverted from Bondamunda rail yard

The jumbo was seen heading towards Diesel Colony through the level crossing gate. It was then sighted at the rail yard at Bangomunda. When forest personnel reached and tried to guide it away from the human settlement, the pachyderm instead moved towards Rourkela-Durgapur road and entered Koel Nagar C-block. 

Just about then, Dastia had stepped out of her house to collect flowers she encountered the. As they confronted each other, the animal picked her up with its trunk, tossed her and flung her onto the ground leading to her death on the spot. 

Jhirpani police immediately reached the spot and seized the body for postmortem. The body will be handed over to the family after autopsy, they informed.

Also read: Odisha: 7-year-old boy killed, younger brother injured in elephant attack in Kalahandi