Eighteen elephants found dead in Indian forest reserve

Lightning or poisoning cited as possible causes of deaths in protected area in Assam state

Authorities are trying to establish how 18 wild Asiatic elephants died in a remote corner of India's north-east.

The elephants, including five calves, were found dead in the protected Kondali forest reserve in the state of Assam, Jayanta Goswami, a wildlife official, told Associated Press. The forest guard reached the area on Thursday and found 14 elephants dead atop a hill and four at its bottom.