“The elephant was hit by the Trinco-Colombo night mail train at 12:15 am on April 5th, 1963. The accident happened 10 miles from Kantalai - between Kantalai and Gal Oya Junction railway stations . The lights of the engine had failed and the elephant was carried 450 ft from the point of impact. The photo appeared on the front page of the Ceylon Daily Mirror on 6th April, 1963. The photographer Bertram Rulach was a passenger on the train. This photo was adjudged as one of the best 25 news photos of the year in the 16th Annual Press Pictures competition organised by Encyclopaedia Brittanica and the British Institute of Photography.This was the first time a photo by a Ceylonese photographer was chosen for exhibition at the annual competition."
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