THIS is the terrifying moment a Hindu religious festival turns into chaos after an elephant went berserk and made the other animals stampede.
Footage shows one elephant in a costume initially breaking away from the procession in panic – sparking the carnage that left 13 people injured.
As the massive creature faces the opposite direction, its keeper is seen pulling its tail in an unsuccessful attempt to get it to stop.
The elephant picks up pace while the keeper desperately holds onto its tail, screaming for the crowds to escape.
Meanwhile the other elephants begin to follow suit and wreak havoc at the religious event.
People are seen desperately running away from the wild animals, not being able to tell what their next move was.
The first elephant is eventually surrounded by a group of people who get it under control.
Some 13 people were injured and taken to hospital in Kataragama, which is around 175miles south of the capital Colombo, a police spokesman said.
All of the victims have since been discharged.
In the footage, all of elephants are dressed in different coloured robes, towering over the crowds that are below.
They’re considered a sacred animal within the Hindu religion, representing loyalty, power, wisdom and fertility, USDA reports.
Animal rights groups have previously criticised the widespread use of the creatures at temple ceremonies in Sri Lanka.
Elephants are known to be overall peaceful animals – but there have been some occasions were the creatures have become murderous.
In a similar tale, rampaging elephants are leaving a trail of terror in Thailand amid a worrying surge in fatal attacks in the country.
The beasts have been running riot on roads, storming into tourist areas and even breaking into homes as they plague the elephant attack capital of the world – with tourists to blame, experts told The Sun.
A report in February claimed at least 150 people in Thailand were killed due to wild elephant related attacks since 2018.
More than 133 were also injured, according to Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
Many of these were tourists in the southern part of the country.
The number of horror incidents in the south have only increased overtime – and coincide with Thailand seeing a huge increase in wild elephant issues.
As well as brutal attacks on humans, they have been seen blocking up entire roads in their mammoth herds, squashing cars and springing towards defenceless tourists before swiping at them.
THE SERIAL KILLER
In 2006, an elephant named Osama bin Laden slaughtered 27 people in northeast India before he was finally shot dead.
He was accused of savagely killing 14 villagers in just one month.
The 10ft beast terrorised villagers for two years, destroying hundreds of homes and crushing dozens of people to death – prompting locals to name him after the evil al-Qaeda leader.
SAFARI SNIPE
A rampaging elephant chased a safari truck before flipping it in Zambia – killing an elderly tourist.
The big beast used its three-foot tusks to hook under the truck and flip it onto its side as the terrified tourists screamed and clung to their seats.
A woman from the US, 80, was killed in the incident as another tourist was seriously injured and four others had minor injuries.
FESTIVAL CHAOS
In 2018, horrifying footage showed an elephant killing his trainer before goring several worshippers at an Indian festival.
During the festival, one of the elephants loses its cool and throws the four people riding it – including the trainer – to the ground.
As horrified onlookers begin to flee the grounds, the male bull starts hurling them about with his trunk and tusks like rag dolls.
The elephant then tramples the helpless trainer, killing him.
DISEMBOWELLED
A man was disemboweled and trampled to death by an elephant in Makueni, Kenya in 2020.
Charles Mutisya, 73, was brutally killed while tending to his farm at 7am one morning in December.
The elderly man was found with his “intestines hanging outside the stomach”.
TEMPLE OF DOOM
A temple worker was stomped to death by a wild elephant while taking a stroll In Hua Hin, Thailand.
Prasit Kanchanasilanon, 58, was found lying face-down in a pool of blood in front of the monks’ living quarters, according to the Bangkok Post.
He had suffered a fractured skull and a number of other horrific injuries.
CRUSHING BLOW
A furious elephant crushed a man to death after a crowd of workers teased a herd passing through a tea plantation with loud noises.
The swarm of workers started taunting and chasing the elephants in a bid to scare them off by shouting and honking car horns.
After darting towards the workers, the huge Indian elephant made a beeline for a man who had stumbled by the roadside while trying to escape before trampling him to death.
PAIR OF WILD BEASTS
At least one man was killed in southern India when two wild elephants went on a three-hour rampage leaving behind a trail of carnage.
A 55-year-old security guard was trampled to death after he came out of his house to see what was going on amid the widespread panic.
Horrific footage showed the bloodied body of the man after being repeatedly gored, butted and trampled in a doorway.
