When a herd of wild jumbos suddenly came charging at him without any provocation, Saji had no option but to climb a tree at Chinnakanal in this high range district.
The youth never ever imagined that he would have to take refuge on a tree for the next one and half hours, holding his breath as the trumpeting elephants surrounded it. The video of the nail-biting incident has gone viral on social media platforms.
In the video recorded by some locals, the Idukki man could be seen perching on the tree and an elephant staying nearby. On Tuesday, Saji told media that the incident occurred when he was going atop the hill from the makeshift shed where he was staying somewhere down.
The youn man said he screamed throughout to draw the attention of local people and sought help sitting on the tree. "Some elephants came running my way suddenly. I did not think much but climbed the tree...I had to sit there for the next one and a half hours," he said.
A forest official said despite being warned, the youth ventured into the area where elephants were roaming to watch the herd of jumbos.
As one of the tuskers remained near the tree, Saji could not climb down and had to wait on top for some time till the officials came back and chased it away using crackers, he added.
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