Three houses, made of mud and bamboo, were today razed to the ground by a herd of elephants, which strayed into human habitat at Pandian Nagar in Gudalaur, about 70 km from here, police said.
The herd of 12 elephants was following a calf in the area and suddenly started attacking the houses, police said.
Eight inmates, including three children, of the houses ran to safety.
Hearing the screams, some estate workers arrived and managed to scare away the elephants by making loud noises, they said.
