GURUVAYUR: Elephant brought for a festival at Kottappadi Chembalakulangara Temple ran amok, killing 2 people. ‘Thechikottukavu Ramachandran’ was taken to a house warming function near Kottappadi when a sound of exploding crackers startled the elephant. The elephant ran into a group of people who were standing near the house, stamping two people to death. House owner’s friend Babu aka Narayanan Patteri (66) and Kozhikode native Arakkal Gangadhran (60) are the deceased. Eight others were injured. The incident was at around 2 p.m.

Narayanan Patteri was an employee of the Dubai Stock Exchange. He was set to return to Dubai today.

Kottappadi native Mullath Ranjini (65), Chalissery native Amjesh (25) and Chavakkad native Karimath Akshay were hospitalized for minor injuries.