Last year, more than 170 people and nearly 500 elephants were killed in human-elephant encounters overall – and around 20 elephants are killed by trains annually, according to local media.

Elephants, whose natural habitats are affected by deforestation and shrinking resources, have increasingly strayed into places of human activity.

Some have urged train drivers to slow down and sound the train horns to warn animals ahead on railway tracks.

In 2018, a pregnant elephant and its two calves similarly died in Habarana after being struck by a train. The three had been part of a larger herd crossing the train tracks at dawn.

Last October, another train ran into a herd in Minneriya, about 25km (15 miles) away from Habarana, killing two elephants and injuring one.

There are an estimated 7,000 wild elephants in Sri Lanka, where the animals, revered by its Buddhist majority, are protected by law. Killing an elephant is a crime punishable by imprisonment or a fine.