An overworked elephant, reportedly annoyed, decided to rip its owner in half in the Thai province of Phang Nga. **Elephant pictured is NOT from story**
Police received a call around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday regarding the death of the elephant owner in the Tha Yu district. According to Next Shark, the 20-year-old male elephant, Pom Pam, had torn 32-year-old Supachai Wongfaed in half with his tusks. The village chief, investigators, and rescue workers went to the scene and found Pom Pam standing over Wongfaed’s body in the middle of a rubber plantation.
Officials from the Phang Nga Provincial Livestock sedated the animal so rescue workers could retrieve Wongfead’s body. Investigators said he is the son of Thawon Wongfaed, Khok Chareon subdistrict’s former mayor. In their report, Takua Thung Police said Pom Pam was forced to carry wood in the rubber plantation and assumed the hot weather made the elephant “go crazy,” leading to the attack. The country’s government originally banned using elephants to carry wood in 1989, although it still occurs in some parts of the country.
