A woman was was trampled to death by wild elephants as she was herding her cattle from a grazing field back to her nearby village in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State on the evening of 28 August.
According to Kadri, a villager, the woman's name was Ms. Lila, aged 45, from Thay Chaung ( Balu Khali ) village in the Powet Chaung Village Tract of Maungdaw Township.
Ms. Lila, who had learning difficulties, was accompanied by her eight year old son. She went to the grazing field in the evening to herd the cattle back home to the village and was trampled by the elephants when she tried to drive them away from the grazing field but the elephants did not harm her son, said a close relative on condition of anonymity.
A man from the village said that a herd of wild elephants had come into the village at midnight. They had damaged houses, eaten banana trees and destroyed paddy fields and small trees.
They also ate paddy stored in families' warehouses.
Other villagers said a herd of elephants had entered the village in search of food at night. The villagers drove them from the village and the elephants then went and grazed in paddy fields close to the village. It is believed that they came into the village due to a shortage of food in the jungle.
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
