Posted Tue at 4:04am

A rampaging elephant has injured more than a dozen people at a Buddhist pageant in Sri Lanka after it became spooked by revellers and ran into the crowd.

Key points:

• A man riding on the elephant fell off and narrowly escaped being trampled
• Officials said that 18 people received treatment and 16 had been discharged
• Ornately decorated elephants are a major attraction in Sri Lankan Buddhist pageants

Footage from Saturday night’s pageant in Kotte, near Colombo, showed the elephant breaking free from the procession and turning violent after being bumped by onlookers.

They were reportedly running from a second elephant, not seen in the vision, that had lunged forward.

A man riding on the elephant fell off and narrowly escaped being trampled.

Officials from two hospitals said that 18 injured people received treatment and 16 had been discharged.

Of the remaining two, one is being observed for possible abdominal damage and the other is being treated for an injured ear, they said.

Ornately decorated elephants are a major attraction in Sri Lankan Buddhist pageants.

Wealthy families own captive elephants as a symbol of their prosperity, pride and nobility and send their elephants to participate in pageants around the country.

Some Buddhist temples also own elephants.

AP