Fuel shortage hampers search for elephant injured in Jackson Anthony accident

The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) states that the image circulating on social media claiming to be that of the elephant that had been struck by the double cab driven by veteran actor Jackson Anthony is fake and that it had so far been unable to locate the animal. 

DWC officials were currently trying to locate the elephant but their work is being hampered by the prevailing fuel shortage, Senior DWC Veterinarian Dr Chandana Jayasinghe said. 

He added that the image currently circulating on social media claiming to be that of the injured elephant is that of an elephant that had been injured in an accident in India. 

Both Mr Anthony and his brother Saman Anthony suffered serious injuries in the accident. Saman Anthony had suffered serious injuries to his lungs and was yesterday (4) being treated at the Surgical Intensive Care Unit of the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital. A third occupant in the vehicle, Iresh Lakmal, was also injured in the incident but his condition is not serious, Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital's Director Dr. Dulan Samaraweera said. 

The trio had been driving to Anuradhapura after a film shoot in Thambuttha, Galgamuwa on the night of July 2 when their double cab crashed into the wild elephant in Moragoda. Mr Anthony was transferred to the Colombo National Hospital that night itself for further treatment. 

Text and Pix by B.G. Chathuranga