Idukki (Kerala) | A 54-year-old man, who went for a morning stroll, suffered serious injuries as a wild elephant attacked him in the tourist hill station of Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on Tuesday.

The injured man was identified as an official of the state forest department, official sources said.

Quoting local people, they said the hapless man accidently came in the way of a stray jumbo and ran out of fear when he was walking through the forest fringe area.

As he tried to run away, he slipped and fell into a trench on the way and the elephant walked through it trampling him, they said.

The man suffered critical injuries in the incident and was first shifted to a nearby hospital and later to a tertiary facility in Kottayam district, sources added