A 9-year-old boy died as a large branch of a tree fell on him in a freak accident, watching an elephant at Gabtali upazila of Bogura.
The deceased was identified as Hasan Mia, son of van driver Bhadhan Shah of the village Taranihat Purbapara in Baliadighi union of the upazila.
The incident occurred at 3.30 pm on Tuesday as the boy with other villagers went to see a circus elephant that came to the village.
According to the locals, an elephant from Sylhet was passing through Baliadighi with its owner. The elephant broke a branch of a eucalyptus tree that had already been hanging since a recent storm hit the village.
Inspector Jamirul Islam of Gabtali Police Station said that the child died when he came to see the elephant and the broken branch of a tree fell on him.
After the accident, the elephant went down into a nearby pond seeing the agitated crowd, said the locals.
As no one had any complaints, burial of the child was allowed without an autopsy, the inspector said.