A herd of elephants chased away labourers taking selfies and trampled one to death in India.

Footage shows the road workers running as jumbos followed them in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, on October 24.

Srikant Ramchandra Satre and his colleagues had reportedly travelled from Navegaon to Gadchiroli for a cable-laying job. During a break, they decided to visit the Mutnur forest areas of Abapur, where bull sightings had been reported.

Tragically, as the electrician, 23, tried to take a selfie while one of the elephants was standing behind him, the bull, named CME3, charged at him and crushed him. His friends managed to escape.

Forest officials described the tusker as large and aggressive, having entered the Gadchiroli forest from neighbouring Chhattisgarh state.

In another incident, wild elephants attacked a motorbike rider on a road near Bandipur Tiger Reserve on October 25. The motorcyclist abandoned his bike and fled in panic. Reports say he escaped unharmed, as the elephants did not pursue him.

The sub-continent has at least 30,000 wild elephants - more than any other country and approximately 60 per cent of the world's entire Asian elephant population.

Many more elephants are held in captivity in India. They are used for religious events and weddings.