Tamil Nadu: Elephant falls into well, rescued after 14-hour operation

A more than 12-hour-long operation was able to rescue an elephant who fell into a well in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Forest officials on Friday said a crane was used to successfully pull out the elephant from the well, as reported by news agency Reuters.

Rajkumar, the district forest officer said the elephant was roaming around a village bordering Dharampuri district when it fell down to the well that was covered with bushes and did not have any boundary around it.

"It was a deep and narrow well," said the forest officer.

"We were informed by locals early on Thursday and were able to retrieve the elephant only late in the night."

The officials first cleared away the bushes around the well and then pumped water out of the well. But the elephant attacked the pipes that were taking out the water.

"Eventually, we sedated the animal with the help of doctors and used a crane to lift it out of the well," he said.

"It was found to be healthy and active when we monitored it for three hours after the rescue."