Elephant kills man in Mumbai zoo

A 25-year-old man was on Sunday crushed to death by an elephant inside civic body-run Byculla zoo in Mumbai when he entered the mammoth animal's enclosure, police said.

The man entered the enclosure of the elephants at Veermata Jijamata Prani Sangrahalay in south Mumbai by jumping from backside wall and tried to attract the attention of the two animals named Laxmi and Anarkali, said Sanjay Tripati, Deputy Superintendent of the zoo.

Subsequently Laxmi attacked the man and crushed his head with her heavy leg, injuring him seriously, he said.

By the time the security guards, deployed at the front side of the gate, came for the man's rescue, the elephant had already attacked him, Tripati added.

Byculla Police station senior inspector T Ghodge said that the injured was rushed to J J hospital where he was declared dead.

"The man is yet to be identified. We found nothing to establish his identity. There was one match box in his pocket," Ghodge said.

"Preliminary probe indicates that there was no negligence on part of the zoo authority. The man himself went inside the enclosure after which the incident occurred," he said.