17 injured as elephants run amok in Sri Lanka

Seventeen people were injured after two elephants rampaged into the crowd during a pageant in Sri Lanka.

Privately owned Derana Television aired footage of the pageant at the Kotte Raja Maha Vihara Buddhist temple in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. The footage showed one of the elephants bolting from a group of people and trampling bystanders as it ran down the road.

People in the parade scattered and spectators ducked for cover as one elephant threw its rider.

Those injured were shifted to nearby hospitals in different ambulances.

Starting from a 600-year-old Buddhist temple, the annual street pageant or Perahera sees dancers and elaborately decorated elephants parade through the streets of Kotte.

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