DELHI: Binge-drinking elephants, drunk on local hooch, have killed three people and destroyed 60 homes in a four-day rampage in east India.

They were reported by officials to be sleeping off hangovers as shocked communities tried to clear the wreckage left by the 70-strong herd in remote villages on the borders of the states of Orissa and West Bengal.

With a festival approaching, villagers had stockpiled the fermented-rice drink that is stored in earthenware vessels. A local administrator, Bijay Kumar Panda, said the elephants found and drank it. They then staggered through the surrounding area and began ''to fall asleep hither and thither, throwing life completely haywire''.

The Pioneer newspaper reported that the ''jumbos'' were known for their ''love of country-made brews'' which they ''gulp down and make merry at the expense of the villagers''.

Elephant experts say such rampages are becoming more common.