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A 'drunk' man was trampled to death by an elephant after trying to pose for a selfie with the wild animal.

Ashok Bharti, 54, had apparently been drinking before he approached the animal, which had strayed from its herd near Kuanramunda forest in India.

The animal charged towards him, sending Bhati fleeing for his life for just a few seconds before tripping.

Footage taken by villagers from a safe distance, then showed the elephant charge straight over Bharti - crushing him within an inch of his life.

Bharti was rushed to hospital after suffering severe injuries, but he died on the way.

The incident happened on Saturday morning when forest rangers were trying to rescue the elephant.

Bharti a resident of the city of Cuttack, in the eastern state of Odisha, was working with a private company in the Sundargarh district when he was killed.

Assistant Conservator of Forest JK Mohanty told the India Times : "We were trying to drive away the tusker [elephant] with the help of local people.

"But suddenly a person present there among locals, went nearer to the tusker and tried to take a photograph of the elephant on his mobile phone.

“He was also trying to take a selfie with the elephant when it turned on him."

Another worker, Philip Sahu, said: "Forest officials were trying to chase the elephant back to the herd when Bharti came too close to the animal to take a selfie.

"The animal was nervous as it had strayed away from his family and when the man came too close to it, the elephant in its rescue attacked him."

Since July this year, a herd of elephants that is raiding the villages near Rourkela, has killed at least three people including a woman and her son.

Also in the same month an elephant was shot dead in Zambia after trampling his handler to death as British tourists queued for rides on the animal at popular holiday hot-spot, Victoria Falls.

Mbajane the bull elephant, which translates to 'cannabis', charged at Enock Kufandada, 50, before repeatedly stamping his body into the ground on the Zambia - Zimbabwe border.

(Image: Kelly Wood/Adventure Zone)

Park rangers were called in to control the horrific scene as officials ushered tourists from the UK, America and Australia to safety.

Mbajane was still in a rage and deemed a danger to others after the incident so he was brought down and killed with several high velocity bullets.

Workers said Mr Kufandada had been attacked twice before by the same elephant but survived.

Clement Mukwasi of the Employers Association of Tourism and Safari Operators said: “The profession of elephant handling is a high risk one and deaths happen.

“We can confirm this sad incident which is the third in the last 10 years” he said.

Handler Mr Kufandada appears to have his left arm torn off along with both legs and it is not clear if he has been impaled with the stick used to control the elephant.

(Image: De Agostini Editorial)

His blood soaked body was covered with sack cloth until the local police force had been called to the scene and then it was removed from the tourist area at Victoria Falls.

Mr Mukwasi hinted that elephants can “keep grudges” for many years against a handler if it has ever been mistreated during the process of training it for tourist rides.

Witnesses told local media that they heard screams and found the dead body torn apart and the 30-year-old bull elephant nearby clearly still enraged and in a bad temper.

The World Animal Protection action group said in a statement that the incident was "another sad reminder that elephants are wild animals and should not be ridden."

Two years ago a curio-seller was trampled to death by an elephant which had strayed into a shopping centre in Victoria Falls which is on the border with Zambia.