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A man was crushed to death after he tried to take a selfie with an elephant in India.

The man, identified as 54-year-old Ashok Bharti, had been trying to take a photograph with the elephant when it “turned on him”.

Mr 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.

A forest official said the elephant was already agitated before the incident.

"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," the official told the India Times.

Mr Bharti was rescued by locals and forest officials and taken to the Rourkela government hospital, but was pronounced dead by doctors shortly after.

“As per the provisions, we will provide compensation to the family of the deceased," Assistant Conservator of Forest JK Mohanty told the India Times.

India has the highest number of selfie-related deaths in the world, with Mumbai declaring no-selfie zones to combat the dangers of the photo craze. In January last year, an 18-year-old woman fell and drowned in the sea while taking a photo of herself at Mumbai’s Bandstand Fort, a popular tourist spot.