BANGKOK
Two tourists were left terrified when the bull elephant they were riding trampled his handler to death in Thailand over the weekend, and then ran amok for around 30 minutes.
The elephant - an eight-year-old male, which was thought to be on heat - was eventually brought to heel with two tranquilizers darts, and by another handler who leapt on him and seized control, news website Phuketwan reported Monday.
The Russian tourist and her teenage daughter were left badly shaken but otherwise unscathed, after desperately clinging onto their seat on the rear of the animal as it ran around.
The incident happened in Phang-nga province in Thailand's south where tourists from the island hub of Phuket - around 825 kilometers (512 miles) south of Bangkok - often take day trips to ride animals through the local jungle.
Lethal incidents involving elephants are not uncommon in Thailand. In April 2000, a 20-year-old British nurse was killed and her sisters and father badly injured when a bull elephant ran amok at a show at the Nong Nooch elephant village in Pattaya on the country's eastern seaboard.
According to local reports, the elephant had been teased by Chinese tourists with bananas.
The incidents mostly happen when male elephants are in musth during the mating period. Handlers - known locally as mahouts - are supposed to keep males isolated when the first signs of musth appear.
The vast majority of elephants used at Thai tourist sites are male.
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