Official reports from India have claimed that 18 elephants were killed by lightning strikes during a massive storm in the country.
Examiners that looked into the deaths of the animals confirmed that they were likely killed by lightning strikes.
Forest officials in the north eastern area of India found the dead bodies of the 18 elephants.
They were clustered in 2 groups.
The elephants died during a recent storm in the area.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam, released a statement about the incident, saying that the government is concerned about the deaths of such number of elephants.
Amit Sahay, a senior official from the forest department of the state, said that 4 elephant carcasses were found at one spot and 14 others in another spot.
Amit added:
The preliminary investigation revealed that the elephants could have been killed by lightning. Top officials of the forest department and veterinary doctors have been rushed to the spot.
Parimal Suklabaidya, the Forest Minister of Assam, tweeted that the ministry is deeply pained by the death of the 18 elephants due to the massive thunderstorm.
It was later revealed that the incident happened in the Kothiatoli Range in Nagaon.
Right now, India has around 30,000 elephants.
60 percent of those elephants belong to the Asian elephant population.
Authorities did not reveal any further information about the incident.
