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One killed, 12 injured in stampede at Ratnapura perahera
View(s):A sixty-year-old woman was killed and 12 others were injured in a stampede at the Ratnapura Saman Devalaya Perehara on Friday.
The incident occurred after two elephants began fighting each other, police said.
According to the police a mahout tried to control the fighting elephants by sticking one of them with an elephant goad/ankus (Henduwa).
In an attempt to escape the mahout’s elephant goad, the elephant had fled in the direction of the crowd.
Police said the elephant did not turn on the onlookers, but the crowd panicked and began running in all directions, knocking down and trampling one-another in the process.