Two children were trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants in Chhattisgarh’s Surajpur district, a forest official said on Sunday. The incident occurred on Saturday night on Tongtaiyya hill near Maheshpur village under Ramanujnagar forest range, the official said.

He said the victims, Dishu (11) and his sister Kajal (5), belonged to the Pando tribe, a particularly vulnerable tribal group, he said.

As per preliminary information, a herd of 11 elephants attacked a hut on the hill. While the parents managed to escape, the tuskers trampled the children to death, he said.

Forest and police personnel reached the spot and sent bodies for post-mortem, he said.

The kin of the deceased have received instant relief of Rs 25,000 each, and the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh each will be disbursed after formalities, the official said.

Following the attack, four other huts on the hill were vacated, and residents were shifted to Premnagar, he said, adding that efforts were underway to chase the herd away.

Human-elephant conflicts in the state, particularly in the northern part, have been a cause of concern for the last decade. The menace has gradually been spreading to districts in the central region.

The districts facing the menace are Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Mahasamund, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Balod and Balrampur.

According to the forest department, more than 300 people were killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last five years.