A five-year-old boy has died in Kaisarganj - a tehsil in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district that has witnessed a spate of wolf attacks of late - from injuries sustained in an attack by the animal, officials said on Saturday.
Star, son of Roshan Kumar, was attacked at a village in the tehsil by two wolves while he was playing outside his house on Friday evening.
According to the villagers, one of the wolves seized the child and dragged him away, after which the neighbours raised an alarm and chased the animals with sticks and rods.
They found the child, severely injured and unconscious, in a field after chasing the wolves away. The boy was first admitted to the community health centre in Kaisarganj and then referred to the district hospital.
As his condition worsened, he was being shifted to a medical college in Lucknow, but died en route, the officials said.
Confirming the incident, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ram Singh Yadav told PTI that the boy was attacked between 5 pm and 6 pm on Friday near the sugarcane fields of Mallahan Purwa village, located close to the Ghaghara river.
"The child succumbed to his injuries while being taken to Lucknow for treatment. Post-mortem formalities are being completed, after which the financial assistance sanctioned by the government will be provided to the family," the DFO said, adding that the pug marks of a wolf were found at the spot where the child was found.
A search operation has been launched in the area using specialised teams and drones, and three cage traps have been installed near the village, Yadav said.
He said that nine people, including seven children, have been killed and 32 injured in wolf attacks in Kaisarganj and Mahsi tehsils since September 9.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited the area on September 27 and ordered that wolves attacking humans must be safely rescued, and if capture was not possible, they should be shot.
Since September 28, the forest department shooters have shot four wolves.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
