June 18, Ambanpola: Three elephants including a baby elephant were killed when they were hit by a passenger train plying to Colombo Saturday morning from the North Central Province.

The three elephants were crossing rail tracks near the Mee Oya Bridge in Ambanpola, near a forest reserve about 150 kilometers north of Colombo when they were hit by the Anuradhapura-Fort passenger train, the police said.

Sri Lanka Railways General Manager Wije Samarasinghe has told the AFP that the accident is the worst train accident involving elephants.

The passengers on the train were not hurt.

Sri Lanka's wild elephant population has dwindled in the recent years to about 5,000-6,000 elephants according to the Wild Life Department surveys, as their habitats are increasingly encroached by the human population