High-speed passenger train kills 7 elephants crossing railway tracks in northeast India

GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India's northeastern state of Assam early Saturday, local authorities said.

The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told The Associated Press.

Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said.

Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day.

The accident site is a forested area around 125 kilometers (78 miles) southeast of Assam’s capital city of Guwahati. Railway tracks in the state are frequented by elephants, but Indian Railways said in a statement the accident location wasn't a designated elephant corridor.

The Rajdhani Express train, traveling from Sairang in Mizoram state bordering Myanmar, was bound for the national capital of New Delhi with 650 passengers onboard when it hit with elephants.

“We delinked the coaches which were not derailed, and the train resumed its journey for New Delhi. Around 200 passengers who were in the five derailed coaches have been moved to Guwahati in a different train,” Sharma said.

Speeding trains hitting wild elephants is not rare in Assam, which is home to an estimated 7,000 wild Asiatic elephants, one of the highest concentrations of the pachyderm in India. Since 2020, at least a dozen elephants have been killed by speeding trains across the state.

Wild elephants often stray into human habitations this time of year, when rice fields are ready for harvesting.

Forest officials spray salt to decompose the carcass of an Asiatic wild elephant burying in a pit after a speeding train hit a heard of wild elephant in the early morning in Changjurai village east of Guwahati, India, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A carcass of an Asiatic wild elephant being removed from a railway track after a speeding train hit a heard of wild elephant in the early morning in Changjurai village east of Guwahati, India, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Passengers from a train look at a carcass of an Asiatic wild elephant (unseen) being removed from a railway track after a speeding train hit a heard of wild elephant in the early morning in Changjurai village east of Guwahati, India, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A carcass of an Asiatic wild elephant being removed from a railway track after a speeding train hit a heard of wild elephant in the early morning in Changjurai village east of Guwahati, India, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

An excavator dig a pit to burry the carcass an Asiatic wild elephant being removed from a railway track after a speeding train hit a heard of wild elephant in the early morning in Changjurai village east of Guwahati, India, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

VAL D'ISERE, France (AP) — Lindsey Vonn added to her strong start in the Milan Cortina Olympics season with third place Saturday in a World Cup downhill won by Cornelia Huetter.

Vonn has a hat trick of podium finishes — a win, runner-up, now third — in the first three World Cup downhills across nine days of racing in Switzerland and France.

Racing immediately after Vonn, Huetter was consistently a little faster after the first time split and touched 126 kph (78 mph). She finished 0.26 seconds ahead of Kira Weidle-Winkelmann and 0.35 clear of the 41-year-old United States star.

Vonn extended her points lead in the season-long World Cup downhill standings.

A big threat to Huetter on an overcast day with tricky visibility on the 2.8-kilometer (1¾-mile) O.K. course was 2018 Olympic champion Sofia Goggia.

Goggia, wearing the No. 14 start bib, was fastest through halfway then had to stand almost straight up to correct her balance coming out of a turn. She was pushed wide into rougher snow to make the next gate.

Goggia finished 0.62 behind Huetter and shook her head in the finish area. She was in eighth place.

Vonn also looked a little anguished on seeing she was behind early leader Weidle-Winkelmann’s time and threw her arms out wide. She later congratulated Huetter with smiles and a hug when the 33-year-old Austrian was in the course-side leader’s box.

Huetter now has five downhill wins in her 10 career World Cup victories and won the season-long title in 2024. She should be a medal contender in the Olympic downhill scheduled Feb. 8 at storied Cortina d’Ampezzo.

She placed fourth in downhill at each of the two world championships held since the 2022 Beijing Olympics where she placed seventh.

Vonn’s comeback last year after nearly six seasons of retirement was to target the Milan Cortina Winter Games that will be her fifth Olympics. She took gold in 2010 at Vancouver and bronze behind Goggia at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea.

Val d’Isere stages a super-G on Sunday, one week after Vonn was fourth in the discipline at St. Moritz won by Alice Robinson of New Zealand.

AP Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Italy's Sofia Goggia reacts at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Val D'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

United States' Lindsey Vonn speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Val D'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Austria's Cornelia Huetter speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Val D'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Austria's Cornelia Huetter celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Val D'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

United States' Lindsey Vonn checks her time at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Val D'Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)