…As Boat tragedy claims nine lives in eastern India***
Six elephants have drowned at a waterfall in Thailand while apparently, trying to save a calf, according to national park officials.
Veterinarians are monitoring the conditions of two other elephants that saw the ordeal, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said in its latest statement on Sunday.
They are now safe after making their way out of the water on their own, the statement added. Officials had been planning a rescue.
Park officials initially discovered a 3-year-old elephant drowning in the Haew Narok Waterfall, part of the Khao Yai National Park, about 160 kilometres north-east of Bangkok.
Two other elephants had been watching the infant from a cliff. People nearby heard loud cries from the distressed animals in the early hours of Saturday morning, the parks department said.
The young elephant did not survive and officials found five other drowned elephants on the first level of the large three-tiered waterfall, which has been temporarily closed to visitors.
In another development, nine persons died when a boat capsized in India’s eastern state of West Bengal, the Police confirmed to Xinhua on Saturday.
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The mishap occurred on Thursday night when more than 50 people were on board a boat and returning after attending a religious event in West Bengal as a part of the ongoing festive season.
The boat capsized in the Mahananda River.
Immediately after the tragedy, two dead bodies were recovered, more than 30 persons were rescued and seven persons went missing.
The dead bodies of those who went missing were found on Saturday by rescue teams.
Dpa with additional reports from Xinhua