A pensioner was trampled to death by a wild elephant while foraging for mushrooms.<br /><br />Saman Mitrthong, 66, took his son-in-law into the jungle to search for food in Bueng Kan, northeastern Thailand last Thursday (March 19) morning.<br /><br />They ventured into a protected area of woodland used as a sanctuary for the creatures but when they were returning home the encountered one of the elephants, which charged at them.<br /><br />The son-in-law Prasert Onseeda, 52, ran away without looking and thought that his father-in-law was following him. However, when he reached the village there was no sign of Saman and locals began to search for him.<br /><br />The villagers found him dead in the wood with injuries consistently with being trampled by an elephant. He had multiple fractures and his body was covered in bruises.<br /><br />The shocked son-in-law said he tried to grab the pensioner's hand and ran together but the elephant scared him.<br /><br />He said: "When I saw the jumbo it was 30ft away so I grabbed my father-in-law's hand to run but the elephant approached us quickly, so I let go of his hand.<br /><br />"I thought he was running behind me but when I arrived at our village he did not follow me so I brought the villagers to look for him and we found him dead."<br /><br />The district sheriff Udom Inkrai said he will try to contact the local government for compensation for the dead man's family.<br /><br />He said: "Many villagers here rely on the wild plants for food and the nearest jungle is also a part of a wildlife sanctuary, which makes villagers have chances to meet the elephants.<br /><br />"I will find a way to help his family but for now I think it is hard to because in this case they went into the elephant territory themselves, and it was not their space invaded by the jumbo."
