India, Dec. 23 -- In the wee hours of Saturday, eight elephants were knocked down by the Mizoram-Delhi Rajdhani Express in Sangjurai village, Hojai district of central Assam, killing seven of them on the spot and injuring one. The injured elephant also died the next day while undergoing treatment. Five of the killed elephants were calves. Visibility was very poor due to heavy fog when the train struck the elephant herd. The loco pilot did apply the emergency brake to avert the accident; testimony to this is the derailment of the locomotive and the first five bogies of the train. The train could only be started four hours later, when the derailed bogies were replaced.

The Forest and Railways departments blamed each other for this. Though ...