A 35-year old labourer was killed by an elephant near his house late last night in Alandurai, police said today.

Dharman had come out of his house in Moongilmarakuttai, to attend a call on his cell phone, when an elephant suddenly appeared from nowhere in the dark. It lifted him and smashed him on a tree, resulting in instant death.

Hearing the screams, neighbours rushed to the rescue of Dharman, who was already dead. However, they managed to scare away the elephant and alerted the police.

Police rushed to the spot and after retrieving the body, sent it for post-mortem to the Government hospital here.