Ranchi, Jan. 7 -- A spate of wild elephant attacks in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district has claimed 16 lives within a week, including members of two families, triggering panic across forest-fringe villages and prompting emergency response measures by the forest department.

On Tuesday night, an elephant killed six people, including four members of the same family, in Noamundi. Earlier, on Monday night, a tusker killed three members of the same family in Goelkera.

A forest department official said the entire area under the Jeteya police station in the Noamundi block was under attack by a wild elephant.

"Six villagers were killed in separate incidents across different villages, while four others sustained serious injuries. In Bawadia vi...