TAIPING • A man and a woman were attacked by an elephant on the East-West Expressway, near Gerik town in northern Perak, while they were relieving themselves in the bushes.

The incident occurred on Friday at 5.30pm after they had stopped their car by the highway, about 20km from Gerik. The highway links the east and west coasts of Peninsular Malaysia.

The 48-year-old man and his 40-year-old female colleague from Jakarta both had a stomach ache.

The man's brother, identified only as Robert, said the victims were on their way to Penang after a business event in Terengganu.

"He was relieving himself when he saw a 'rock' moving. He tried to run but was nudged by the elephant's trunk and fell down," Robert said.

"The elephant then stepped on him," he told reporters at Taiping Hospital in Perak. where the duo were being treated.

Meanwhile, also on Friday, an Indonesian man was strangled by a 100kg python in Jabor town in Terengganu. The 49-year-old victim, identified only as Safar, was returning home on his motorcycle at night after visiting a friend when he saw the snake crossing the road.

He tried to capture the reptile, but the snake became aggressive and wrapped itself around his body, strangling him.

Eyewitness Mohd Yazid Ibrahim, 30, said he heard the victim's screams. He added that he saw the snake coiled around the man's body, from his feet up to his neck.

"We tried to help but the snake acted aggressively, so my wife rushed to the village for help," said Mr Mohd Yazid.

Safar had multiple injuries. The attack lasted for an hour before villagers managed to hack at the reptile to get it to release its death grip.

Kemaman district police chief Mohd Said Ibrahim said the case has been classified as sudden death and the body of the victim was sent to Kemaman Hospital for a post-mortem.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, BERNAMA