Teachers run for their lives as elephant herd attacks their vehicle in Uttarakhand

A herd of elephants strayed onto a highway in Uttarakhand, damaging vehicles and halting traffic. The episode lasted 2.5 hours and left a group of teachers and motorists scrambling to safety as forest staff steered the animals back.Teachers run for their lives as elephant herd attacks their vehicle in UttarakhandA herd of elephants brought traffic on a highway in Uttarakhand's Kotdwar to a standstill after the animals wandered onto the road and damaged several vehicles, leaving motorists and a group of school teachers scrambling to safety.The incident took place on Monday morning near the Public Works Department (PWD) store in the Lansdowne Forest Division. The elephants damaged multiple vehicles as they moved along the busy highway.Among the vehicles caught in the chaos was a Tempo Traveller carrying school teachers, and the vehicle was severely damaged during the incident, with the elephants also destroying items kept inside it.Eyewitnesses said that the cash kept in the teachers' purses was also lost during the rampage. The sudden appearance of the herd left the teachers terrified, but they managed to get out of the vehicle and reach safety before eventually returning home. Several other vehicles were also damaged as the elephants moved through the area. With motorists unable to pass while the herd remained on the highway, traffic on NH-534 was disrupted for nearly two and a half hours, from around 5 am to 7:30 am.Watch the video here: Forest Department personnel reached the spot and worked to control the situation. Officials explained that the herd had become agitated after finding its route blocked by vehicles on both sides of the highway.The elephants also had limited options to move away from the road because water levels in the river below were high. The presence of several calves in the herd further contributed to the animals becoming defensive and aggressive, according to the forest officials.Forest personnel eventually managed to guide the herd away from the highway and back towards the forest. Once the elephants had moved to safety, traffic movement resumed and the long queues began to clear.- EndsPublished By: Yashna TalwarPublished On: Aug 19, 2026 13:01 IST