Bus Hits Elephant In Mexico

[dgridley]

This is a strange one!

MEXICO CITY — A five-ton elephant escaped from a circus and wandered onto a busy highway, where it was hit by a bus and died on Tuesday.

State officials say bus driver Tomas Lopez, 49, also was killed and at least four passengers were hospitalized after the pre-dawn collision in Ecatepec, just north of Mexico City.

more: FOXNews.com - Bus Crashes Into 5-Ton Escaped Elephant on Mexican Highway - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

[pk]

How sad for everyone and also for the elephant.

Can't help but wonder what the poor drivier must have thought when a huge elephant came into his view!

[dgridley]

Or what the elephant thought when the bus came into view.

Of course I feel bad for the driver and passengers, but I really feel bad for the elephant. How confused and panicked it must have been.

[Latina]

Dont see that happening on Wisconsin highways.

I feel for the families of those who lost their lives and were injured

[pk]

A five-ton elephant escaped from a circus and wandered onto a busy highway, where it was hit by a bus and died on Tuesday.

Don't see that happening on Wisconsin highways.

Well if you think about it, I guess it could happen right here in Wisconsin or any state that has zoos or a circus traveling through. And here in Wisconsin we have Circus World. Doesn't that have elephants? Not sure since I have not actually been there before. But at any time I guess an elephant could get lose from one of these places and wander on a highway.

So sad all the way around.

[pk]

Just wondering about this so I did a quick google search and found that this could have happened in Wisconsin:


June 17, 2002: Apparently while performing with the Shrine Circus in Memomonie, Wisconsin two elephants broke out of a circus tent by bolting through the crowds. One elephant named Mary was later found two miles away after she traveled through the town. She was captured at the University of Wisconsin-Stout campus. Both elephants were contained after they damaged a door and did $600.00 in damages on a city truck and injured a child.



August 27, 1994: On a Milwaukee Highway an elephant was frightened but wasn't hurt when the trailer she was in was in an accident. The elephant, Luella was at a company picnic and was being transported back to Jo-Don Farms when the accident occurred. The truck/trailer ran into the back of a car and jack knifed after the impact.

The elephant didn't get loose. But still can you imagine not only having your car rear ended by a truck but even worse with a 5,000 pound elephant in the trailer too?

Anyone else find any more articles on accidents with elephants or elephants getting loose in Wisconsin?

pk


.

[dgridley]

How about Romeo the Killer Elephant? Romeo is immortalized with a statue in Delavan, Wisconsin. Here's a bit about Romeo:

In the 1800s more than 25 circuses used Delavan as their winter quarters. It was called the "Circus Capital of the World." The town has chosen to commemorate its heritage oddly, with a life-size statue of its most infamous resident: Romeo, the killer elephant.

Romeo was no misunderstood, one-shot killer. He was a serial murderer, knocking off five people over a period of 15 years. He crushed one, he impaled another with his tusk, he stamped a third to death. Romeo once escaped from his barn and terrorized the countryside for three days. On another occasion, while appearing in Chicago, he nearly tore the theater apart.


more > Statue of Romeo, The Killer Elephant, Delavan, Wisconsin

They have a couple pics of Romeo's statue at that link looking all mean and menacing!

You also have the Pink Elephant Convenience Store in DeForest, WI that features a big pink elephant statue with glasses!

pics > DeForest, WI - Pink Elephant

By the way, Googling the word pair "elephant wisconsin" without the quotes brings up this thread on the first page of Google. Not bad!