Elephant attacks German tourist in Coimbatore, video goes viral

Coimbatore:�A video clip of a wild elephant tossing and throwing away a German tourist on a ghat road in the tiger valley near Valparai has gone viral and he died due to injuries suffered in the attack, an official said.

The incident occurred when the tourist, who was riding a motorcycle, was crossing a stretch of the ghat road despite noticing the presence of the elephant on the road. In the video, which was apparently shot by those in a vehicle that came behind, the man could be seen speeding ahead. Several other road users had halted their vehicles at a safe distance from the wild animal. The foreign motorist veered to the right side of the road to avoid the animal.

However, it chased and attacked him. Although he ran away into the woods, he came back towards his fallen motorcycle and that time, the elephant attacked him again, causing fatal injuries.

An official here said he was taken to a local hospital and then shifted to a government facility where he died. The incident occurred on February 4 evening and the deceased was identified as 77-year old German national, Michael.�