Husband dies, wife injured after being trampled by elephant

LAHAD DATU - An elderly man died while his wife was seriously injured after being attacked by a herd of elephants in an incident at Kampung Perpaduan Skim Begahak, Bakapit, here last Saturday.

During the incident at about 10pm, the victim identified as Lopis Jubin, 90, died as a result of being trampled, while his wife, Dalama Hamid, 62, suffered serious injuries.

Lahad Datu Willdlife officer Silvester Saimin said before it happened, the husband and wife came across 12 elephants that entered their potato garden.

"According to the victims' grandson, at the time of the incident, they were inside the shed to take care of their garden.

"While taking a rest, Dalama realised that their shed was moved by the animal and she managed to get out of the shed with her husband to escape," he said when contacted by Sinar, today.

However, he said one of the elephants chased the couple and then kicked and stepped on them.

"As a result of the incident, the man suffered a broken rib, a bruise on his right eye and a wound on his left hand, while his wife had a broken waist and left thigh and both hands were bruised.

"Dalama is currently being treated at Lahad Datu Hospital while her husband has been confirmed dead and the body has been taken to the forensics unit," he said.

Silvester said that the inspection at the location found that there were traces of the presence of elephants in the area, such as footprints, broken potato trees and friction marks on the shed where the victims were at.

"There are also elephant footprints at the area where the two victims were kicked and stepped on.

"When checks were carried out, there were no elephants in sight and there was no provocation between the victims and the elephants," he said.