A pregnant female elephant who was stressed by the soaring heat wave in Asia trampled her owner to death.

The 53-year-old cow named Phang Mae Nam Ngam had been bought from a dealer before being taken to her new home in Buriram, northeast Thailand.

However, the jumbo was agitated by the 42 degrees Celsius temperatures as the heat wave swept across the region.

She attacked owner Chart Mokhom, 60, who was found dead with broken bones and bruises across his body on Sunday, April 23.

Locals battled to catch Phang Mae Nam Ngam but she rampaged through nearby fields before finally being shot with a tranquilizer dart.

The mahout's devastated wife Pattana Mokhom, 64, said her husband had purchased the elephant from Chiang Mai a few weeks ago for 1.5 million Baht (35,000 GBP).

Pattana said: 'My husband was caring for the new elephant and tried to form a bond with her. He took her every day to bathe in the water.

'I remember that he took the elephant out of the house at around 10 AM, but later that day, neighbours told me that he had been attacked by the elephant.

'I believe this happened because my husband did not know the elephant very well and that the hot weather may have worsened her mood.'

Wildlife workers and several local mahouts who keep elephants arrived to help catch the female. They said they were careful while shooting her because of her condition of being five month pregnant.

The operation took five hours before she was subdued.

Chart's son Komsan Phunguen, 34, said that his father's occupation was buying elephants and selling them. They would be sent to tourist attractions or used for religious festivals.

He said that his father had recently bought this elephant and was hoping to sell the babies once they were born.

The grieving son said: 'Handling elephants is so dangerous. There is a community of mahouts that understand what has happened and can help us.'

Police said the death is not suspicious and they are not looking for anybody else connected to the incident.

The high temperatures came during what Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian, described as the 'worst April heatwave in Asian history'.

In Thai capital Bangkok, residents were warned not to go outside amid 42 degrees Celsius temperatures causing power outages due to surging demand from air con units and fans running.

The country's national weather service said the heat index - what the temperature feels like when combined with humidity - hit a record 54C (129F).