Two dozen people were injured, two of them seriously, when an elephant ran amok during the BP Angadi Nercha at Tirur in Malappuram, Kerala, around 1 a.m. on Wednesday (January 8, 2025).The incident happened hours before the four-day annual festivities or Nercha at Yahoo Thangal’s shrine at BP Angadi were about to end. This grand event, held in memory of Aloor Valiya Pookunjikoya Thangal, a revered Muslim saint from the Malabar region, transforms the entire town of Pattambi into a vibrant spectacle of colors, lights, and sounds.
People at that event running in panic, aimlessly, here and there to survive from that situation. An elephant named Pakkoth Sreekuttan, positioned in the middle of the five caparisoned pachyderms, charged into the crowd in front of it, grabbing a man by his leg. The elephant swung the man wildly and flung him into the crowds. The festival is a significant cultural and religious event that draws thousands of devotees and visitors from various parts of the state.