Jumbo kills man near alms offering
An elephant stomped a 50yearold man to death before the alms offering ceremony on elephants' backs began yesterday at Surin. The event was being held to welcome PM Yingluck Shinawatra's mobile cabinet meeting.
The unnamed victim, who appeared drunk, reportedly sneaked into the area where the elephants were kept at Wat Jumpol Sutthawat, and played with an elephant there. It got upset, grabbed him by its trunk, threw him onto a tree, and stomped on him after he landed. The man succumbed to his injuries at Surin Hospital.
Surin deputy chief Yutthana Wiriyakitti later said no elephants at the event were in heat, and this incident was a force majeure [a result of nature]; an elephant reaction to being bullied. The elephant was not part of the alms ceremony.
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