New Delhi ( CNN ) -- A train speeding through a forested corridor in India 's West Bengal killed three elephants and another is in a critical condition , a wildlife official said Friday . A baby elephant was among the animals killed in the pre-dawn collision in India 's Jalpaiguri district some 620 kilometers ( 385 miles ) north of the state capital Kolkata , said V.K . Sood , chief conservator of forests in West Bengal state . Another elephant is still in a critical condition after the train plowed into part of a herd crossing the tracks , he said . Concern over similar incidents had prompted railway authorities to restrict train speeds in the area to 25km an hour . However , the railway department has said a speed of 50km an hour was permissible in the area where the accident occurred . Sood said an inquiry is now underway to determine the speed of the train that killed the elephants Thursday , he said , adding that investigators were also looking at the levels of visibility on the track at the time . As many as 36 elephants have been killed by trains in the area since 2004 , Sood said . India 's former rail minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said in a Railway Budget speech in February the department needed to make special provision to protect what he called `` these gentle giants . '' `` The railway family is deeply grieved by some incidents of death of elephants on railway tracks passing through forest areas . Several measures have been initiated in consultation with the Ministry of Environment and Forests , which I am confident will substantially reduce such accidents and safeguard the lives of these gentle giants , '' he said . He said the department had already proposed a bypass rail link around one reserve with a sizable elephant population . Conservationists estimate that India has a wild population of some 25,000 Asiatic elephants but their habitat is increasingly under pressure as human settlements encroach on nature reserves . India has recently witnessed a number of cases of wild animals entering urban environments . In one high-profile incident a leopard killed one person and injured two other after wandering into a residential area in northeast India .
Train in West Bengal kills three elephants and left one in a critical condition . The train plowed into the animals as the herd crossed the tracks . As many as 36 elephants have been killed by trains in the area since 2004 . India has a wild population of some 25,000 Asiatic elephants but their habitat is under threat .