Elephant dies on Spanish motorway as circus truck crashes

Crane used to winch other elephants who wandered loose on Pozo Canada road

One elephant died and two others were injured when a circus truck carrying five of the animals crashed in southeastern Spain on Monday, authorities said.

Video footage showed emergency services using a crane to winch one of the animals from the road in Pozo Canada, in the province of Albacete, as others wandered loose.

Civil Guard police tweeted a photo of a uniformed official standing in front of two of the roving animals, and wrote:

“Our Albacete traffic comrades today, attending to some elephants who were victims of an accident in Pozo Canada (unfortunately one of the pachyderms died).”

READ MORE

The head of the government's traffic department, Gregorio Serrano, said on Twitter that early indications suggested the truck had overturned as it tried to overtake another vehicle.

–Reuters