A man died after he was believed to have been stepped upon by an elephant while returning home with his elder brother from an orchard near the end of the jungle in Kampung Kah Ing near Padang Terap, Kedah yesterday afternoon.

Padang Terap district police chief Noh Idris said Mat Juhid Osman, 49, from Kampung Hulu Padang Sanai Kanan, Kuala Nerang sustained injuries on the head and broke his arm after he was believed to have been attacked by an elephant in the incident at 6.30pm.

“The victim and his elder brother were returning home from the orchard at Kampung Kah Ing, when they were believed to have been suddenly attacked by an elephant...later the victim’s brother took Mat Juhid to Kuala Nerang Hospital and the doctor confirmed that the victim had died,” he said in a statement today.

Noh said the victim’s body had been sent to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah in Alor Setar for a post-mortem.

He said the Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks (Perhilitan) had been contacted to track down the elephant and determine whether it was still in the surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of Kedah Perhilitan said the department was investigating the incident including monitoring the entry route into the orchard.

He said that so far the elephant had not been found and it was possible that the elephant had escaped deep into the jungle.

- Bernama