Video goes viral as angry elephant shatters bus windshield

Huge respect for driver of bus who kept his cool even under terrifying hits on bus

(Web Desk) – A hair-raising video shows the moment an angry elephant charged at a bus in Tamil Nadu, shattering its windshield.

The incident took place while the state-owned bus was ferrying government employees from Kotagiri to Mettupalayam, reports Daily Mail. Footage filmed by a passenger inside the bus shows the elephant charging at the windshield and smashing the glass with its tusks as passengers screamed in shock.

Not content with just smashing the windscreen, the elephant rears its head back as if to attack once more. At this point, the driver gets up and herds all passengers to the back of the bus.

The video was shared on Twitter by Supriya Sahu, Principal Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests, at the Government of Tamil Nadu, who praised the driver for keeping a cool head in a stressful situation.

"Huge respect for the driver of this Government bus in Nilgiris who kept his cool even under the terrifying hits on the bus from an agitated tusker," Ms Sahu wrote while sharing the clip. "He helped passengers move back safely, in an incident today morning. That s why they say a cool mind works wonders," she added.

— Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) September 25, 2021

The elephant eventually moved away without damaging the bus any further.

Meanwhile, footage of the elephant attack has been viewed nearly 70,000 times on Twitter, collecting shocked reactions.

Many praised the driver s presence of mind

— Satheesh Kumar (@saysatheesh) September 25, 2021

— Veera Raghav Pandian (@RaghavaPandian) September 26, 2021

One Twitter user shared a video of the elephant taken from a different angle

— Dr GB (@geebeeigwt) September 25, 2021

Others raised concerns about increasing human-wildlife conflict

— PepeForNature (@nature_pepe) September 25, 2021