NEW DELHI — A speeding freight train traveling through eastern India on Monday barreled into a herd of elephants as they were crossing railroad tracks, killing a calf and three adult animals, an official said.

The official, Biswajit Mohanty, a wildlife expert in Odisha State, where the accident occurred, said the train was traveling at 75 miles an hour in a protected stretch of forest near the village of Teladihi around 3:30 a.m. when it struck a bull elephant, two females and a calf. The speed limit there is around 20 miles an hour, he said by telephone.

“At such a high speed, there’s no chance the elephants would have survived,” Mr. Mohanty said, adding that he had called for an investigation. “This is a big violation.”

Hundreds of elephants have been killed in India over the past 20 years, and deaths attributed to trains appear to be on the rise.