Kozhikode: The Koyilandy police have launched a probe into the deaths of three people in the Manakkulangara temple stampede on Friday. A case for unnatural death under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) has been registered. The victims, including two women and one man, lost their lives after elephants paraded during the temple festival ran amok during a fireworks display on Thursday night.

A preliminary probe by R. Keethi, Conservator of Forests (Social Forestry), Northern Region, Kozhikode, found that the temple committee violated the Kerala Captive Elephant Management Rules, 2012, while parading the two elephants. The district monitoring committee suspended all elephant parading events for a week.

The Kozhikode district administration has decided to take stringent action against those violating rules related to elephant parading.

Among the three deceased, an autopsy confirmed that Leela (68) was trampled to death by one of the elephants. The report stated that her internal organs were severely damaged in the attack. However, the other two victims—Ammukutty (65) and Rajan (66)—succumbed to their injuries after being trapped under a building that collapsed during the mishap.

The tragedy unfolded when Peethambaran, one of the elephants, ran amok and attacked another elephant, Gokul.

The agitated elephants struck a nearby building inside the temple premises, causing one of its walls to collapse on people standing nearby, leading to the fatalities, police said.

The elephants then ran out of the temple premises, triggering a stampede as the crowd gathered for the festival scattered in panic. Over 20 people sustained injuries in the chaos.