Balrampur, Apr 16 (PTI) A 58-year-old woman was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Chhattisgarh’s Balrampur district on Wednesday, taking the toll in similar conflicts involving humans to five over the last 17 days, officials said.

The incident occurred when the victim, Yashoda Das, was collecting mahua fruits in the Fokni forest under Wadrafnagar circle, a forest official said.

The woman’s kin were provided an instant relief amount of Rs 25,000 while the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh will be given later, he added.

The official said two tuskers who crossed to Balrampur from neighbouring Jharkhand wreaked havoc. Teams of forest personnel are tracking their movements and alerting locals, he said.

Human-elephant conflicts have been a major cause of concern in Chhattisgarh in the last decade, especially in the northern parts. But now such incidents have been reported in some districts of the central region in the last few years.

The most affected districts are Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Mahasamund, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Balod, Balrampur and Kanker.

According to forest officials, around 320 people were killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last five years. PTI COR TKP NSK