Sri Lankan pilgrims flee as elephant gets out of control

Videos shared on social media showed an elephant keeper desperately pulling on the frightened elephant’s tail in an attempt to control it, while screaming worshippers lined the street and ran away.

In the photo, an elephant, draped from trunk to tail in red, blue and gold robes, parades in front of a large crowd of spectators to the sound of cymbals.

A police spokesman said 13 injured people were taken to Kataragama Hospital, 280 km south of the capital Colombo, for treatment of minor injuries.

A day after the incident, on Sunday, a spokesman for the state-run Kataragama Hospital said all the injured had been discharged.

In Sri Lanka, elephants are considered sacred animals but animal cruelty laws are rarely enforced.

Animal rights groups have criticised Sri Lanka’s widespread use of elephants in temple ceremonies.

During some parades, which are accompanied by loud music and fireworks, the animals sometimes go wild.

Dozens of pilgrims jumped into a lake in the central city of Kandy in August 2023 to escape five agitated young elephants. Several people were injured and one woman was taken to hospital.

In 2019, elephants ran rampant during a temple festival in Colombo, injuring at least 17 people.

Official records show that the island nation has about 200 domesticated elephants and an estimated 7,500 in the wild.

The government has banned the capture of wild elephants, but dozens of baby elephants have been stolen in recent years, often because their mothers were killed by captors.