Panic surged through the van as the elephant rummaged through the driver's seat
A family vacation in Sri Lanka took a thrilling turn when they encountered a wild elephant in Yala National Park. A tusker surprised the tourists by emerging from the trees and smashing through the van's window for food.
Panic surged through the van as the elephant rummaged through the driver's seat, its trunk probing for edible treasures. A video circulating online captures the tense moment, showing the paper bag succumbing to the elephant's powerful trunk and its inquisitive sniffing in search of more snacks.
In a desperate attempt to appease the curious giant, one of the tourists offered their packet of chips. The elephant, momentarily satisfied, retreated into the verdant jungle.
See the video here:
"It started sniffing around our feet for food and the driver told us to give it anything we had so I fed it my son's leftover sandwich," said Kasun Basnayake, an Australian travelling to the national park with his family.
"He told me to throw the rest out the window so I did and the driver then managed to speed off... Those sandwiches and chips probably saved our lives," Mr Basnayake told the BBC.
There were no reported casualties in the incident.
Last year, a video of an elephant trumpeting out loud while chasing a safari jeep full of tourists also went viral on the internet. The video shows the driver of the jeep reversing the car promptly. After a few moments, when the tusker gives up and walks away into the wild, the tourists take a sigh of relief.