COLOMBO: A Hindu religious festival in Sri Lanka ended in chaos after an elephant in the procession panicked, with 13 people in the crowd injured as they fled, police said Sunday.
Video footage shared on social media showed one of the elephant’s keepers trying to pull the agitated animal by its tail in a desperate attempt to control it, while screaming devotees lining the street rushed to escape.
The images show a parade of elephants covered in red, blue and gold robes from trunk to tail, in front of a large crowd while cymbals clanged.
Thirteen people were taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries in Kataragama, 280 kilometers (175 miles) south of the capital Colombo, a police spokesman said.
A spokesman for the state-run Kataragama hospital said on Sunday, the day after the incident, that all the injured had been discharged.
Elephants are considered sacred in Sri Lanka, but animal cruelty laws are rarely enforced.
Animal rights groups have criticized the widespread use of elephants at temple ceremonies in Sri Lanka.
There have been instances when the animals have gone berserk at parades involving loud music and fireworks.
In August 2023, dozens of pilgrims jumped into a lake in the central city of Kandy to escape five agitated young elephants. Several people were hurt and one woman was hospitalized.
In 2019, at least 17 people were injured when elephants ran amok at a temple festival in Colombo.
Official records show there are about 200 domesticated elephants in the island nation, along with a wild population of around 7,500.
The government has banned the capture of wild elephants but dozens of calves have been stolen in recent years, often after their mothers were killed by their captors.
Sri Lanka pilgrims flee as elephant runs amok
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Sri Lanka pilgrims flee as elephant runs amok
- Thirteen people were taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries in Kataragama
US backs Japan in dispute with China over radar incident
- US criticizes China for radar targeting Japanese aircraft
- Incident follows Japan PM’s remarks on potential Chinese attack on Taiwan
WASHINGTON/TOKYO: The United States has for the first time criticized China for aiming radars at Japanese military aircraft during a training exercise last week, incidents that the Asian neighbors have given differing accounts of amid escalating tensions.
The run-in near Japan’s Okinawa islands comes after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi triggered a dispute with Beijing last month with her remarks on how Tokyo might react to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan and has not ruled out using force to take control of the island, which sits just over 100 km from Japanese territory and is surrounded by sea lanes that Tokyo relies on.
“China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a State Department spokesperson said late Tuesday, referring to the radar incident.
“The US-Japan Alliance is stronger and more united than ever. Our commitment to our ally Japan is unwavering, and we are in close contact on this and other issues.”
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Japan late on Tuesday scrambled jets to monitor Russian and Chinese air forces conducting joint patrols around the country.
MOST SERIOUS INCIDENT IN YEARS
The Chinese fighter jets aiming their radars at the Japanese planes on Saturday was the most serious run-in between the East Asian militaries in years.
Such moves are seen as a threatening step because it signals a potential attack and may force the targeted plane to take evasive action. Tokyo blasted the moves as “dangerous.”
Beijing, however, said that the Japanese aircraft had repeatedly approached and disrupted the Chinese navy as it was conducting previously announced carrier-based flight training east of the Miyako Strait.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Wednesday, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said China’s drills were “very inappropriate behavior.”
“We also call upon China to demonstrate the responsibility befitting a major power. Peace is priceless; war has no winners. Peace must be fostered by all parties, and China shares this responsibility,” he said.
Relations between Asia’s two largest economies have soured sharply since Takaichi told parliament last month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a “survival-threatening situation” and trigger a potential military response from Tokyo.
Beijing has demanded she retract the remarks, accused Tokyo of threatening it militarily and advised its citizens not to travel to Japan.
US Ambassador to Japan George Glass has publicly expressed support for Japan in several social media posts since the diplomatic dispute began, but President Donald Trump and other senior US officials have remained silent.
Trump, who plans to visit Beijing next year for trade talks, telephoned Takaichi last month, urging her not to escalate the dispute, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
