About 100 elephants were rescued from a flooded nature park after heavy rains in Chiang Mai, Thailand, while 2 elephants perished.

Heavy rains that hit Chiang Mai, Thailand, caused flooding. The tourist Elephant Nature Park in the city was flooded. Elephants in the park were trapped in water up to the level of the snow. Park officials worked hard to evacuate about 100 elephants. One of the staff shouted, “Come on, come on, keep going,” as the elephants made their way to safety. Most of the elephants were visually impaired or sick, making evacuation difficult.

“It was the biggest evacuation we have ever carried out to save their lives, the water rose rapidly,” Saengduean Lek Chailert, founder of the nature park, said in a statement. Saengduean stated that 2 elephants perished during the evacuation and said, “They were swept away by the flood waters in front of my eyes.”

Saengduean stated that the flood was the worst flood the park has ever experienced. In addition to elephants, the park has about 5,000 animals, including dogs, cats, horses and rabbits. Some of them were evacuated in recent days after authorities warned of flooding.