Three persons were killed by an elephant that ran amok at the Kudalmanikyam temple in Kerala state of India Wednesday, according to the local newspaper Times of India Thursday.

The incident took place around 11.45 am Wednesday when the elephant and other 17 elephants were being taken out of the temple where a 10-day festival is on. All the elephants were brought there to show performance at the festival.

As the elephant was being led out of the temple, it grabbed a man using his trunk among the waiting devotees and trampled him, and then it picked up a woman and threw her on the ground. A young man aged 20, who tried to help control the elephant, was killed by the elephant with its tusks.

It took the temple authorities about two hours to put the elephant under control after it killed three and destroyed portions of the temple.

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2008)