A wild elephant died after an iron pipe pierced its chest while it was damaging a car shed at Muthukad here on Wednesday, forest officials said.

According to officials, the incident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday when a herd of elephants strayed into a residential area near the catchment of the Peruvannamuzhi reservoir.

Forest personnel reached the spot around 2 am to drive the herd back.

During the operation, one of the elephants charged at the officials, who took shelter inside a house.

The animal later attempted to destroy a car shed in the compound, during which an iron pipe pierced its chest.

In pain, the elephant moved out of the premises and collapsed, officials said.

The Forest Department has launched an investigation into the incident.

The carcass will be disposed of after completing the postmortem, officials added.

Forest officials said elephant intrusions are frequent in the area.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.