Horror moment elephants go on rampaging stampede and destroy 13 people at religious festival in Sri Lanka

A Hindu religious festival has turned into chaos after an elephant went berserk and made the other animals stampede through the crowds.

This is the horror moment elephants trample 13 people at religious festival in Sri Lanka. Picture: Twitter/@SriLankaTweet

This is the terrifying moment a Hindu religious festival turns into chaos after an elephant went berserk and made the other animals stampede.

Footage shows one elephant in a costume initially breaking away from the procession in panic – sparking the carnage that left 13 people injured.

As the massive creature faces the opposite direction, its keeper is seen pulling its tail in an unsuccessful attempt to get it to stop.

The elephant picks up pace while the keeper desperately holds onto its tail, screaming for the crowds to escape.

Meanwhile the other elephants begin to follow suit and wreak havoc at the religious event.

People are seen desperately running away from the wild animals, not being able to tell what their next move was.

The animal towers over the crowds at the religious festival. Picture: Twitter/@SriLankaTweet

The first elephant is eventually surrounded by a group of people who get it under control.

Some 13 people were injured and taken to hospital in Kataragama, which is around 280km south of the capital Colombo, a police spokesman said.

All of the victims have since been discharged.

In the footage, all of elephants are dressed in different coloured robes, towering over the crowds that are below.

They’re considered a sacred animal within the Hindu religion, representing loyalty, power, wisdom and fertility, USDA reports.

Animal rights groups have previously criticised the widespread use of the creatures at temple ceremonies in Sri Lanka.

Elephants are known to be overall peaceful animals – but there have been some occasions were the creatures have become murderous.

In a similar tale, rampaging elephants are leaving a trail of terror in Thailand amid a worrying surge in fatal attacks in the country.

The crowds begin to disseminate out of fear of being trampled. Picture: Twitter/@SriLankaTweet

People back away as the elephant stomps aimlessly around. Picture: Twitter/@SriLankaTweet

The beasts have been running riot on roads, storming into tourist areas and even breaking into homes as they plague the elephant attack capital of the world – with tourists to blame, experts told The Sun.

A report in February claimed at least 150 people in Thailand were killed due to wild elephant related attacks since 2018.

More than 133 were also injured, according to Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.

Many of these were tourists in the southern part of the country.

The number of horror incidents in the south have only increased overtime – and coincide with Thailand seeing a huge increase in wild elephant issues.

As well as brutal attacks on humans, they have been seen blocking up entire roads in their mammoth herds, squashing cars and springing towards defenceless tourists before swiping at them.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission