A 55-year-old man was killed by a wild elephant in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district

A 55-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district on Thursday, forest officials said.

Bhagat Ram Rathiya was attacked by a tusker in Dharampur forest under Aamgaon forest beat in the wee hours, an official said.

A resident of Bayasi, Rathiya was walking home after attending a wedding in nearby Bartapali village on Wednesday night, said Abhishek Jogawat, divisional forest officer of the Dharamjaigarh forest division.

After being alerted, forest and police officials reached the spot and sent the body for post-mortem, the official said.

The victim’s kin were provided an instant relief amount of Rs 25,000, while the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh will be given after completing necessary formalities, he added.

Human-elephant conflicts have been a major cause for concern in Chhattisgarh in the last decade, especially in the northern parts. The most-affected districts are Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Balrampur and Jashpur.

In Balrampur district, five persons have been killed in separate elephant attacks in the last three weeks.

According to forest officials, around 320 people have been killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last five years.