An elephant died in Masinagudi in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiri district after staff of a resort set it on fire inadvertently, News18 reported on Friday.

The elephant, which had strayed into human habitat, was being chased away by people at the resort. One of them threw a burning tyre to scare the elephant away, but the tyre got stuck to its ear. A video circulating on social media shows the elephant fleeing the spot and trumpeting in pain.

Forest department officials found the injured elephant earlier this week. On Tuesday, the officials arranged transport to take the elephant animal way for treatment, but it died on the way, according to Mathrubhumi. The postmortem report showed that the elephant had sustained severe injuries to its left ear, left side of its head, left front leg and trunk.

Two people – Raymond, the owner of the resort and Prashant, a staffer – have been arrested by the forest officials, News18 reported. Another accused, Ricky Rayan, is yet to to be arrested, according to India Today.

In June last year, a pregnant elephant died in Palakkad district of Kerala after eating a pineapple stuffed with fireworks. The incident had sparked outrage across the country and prompted a criminal investigation into cruelty towards animals.